Largest structures in the universe, made of galaxies
Galaxy filaments, walls and voids form web-like structures. Computer simulation. Incosmology ,galaxy filaments are the largest known structures in theuniverse , consisting of walls of galacticsuperclusters . These massive, thread-like formations can commonly reach 50 to 80megaparsecs (160 to 260 megalight-years)—with the largest found to date beingQuipu (400 megaparsecs),[ 1] [ 2] Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall at around 3 gigaparsecs (9.8 Gly) in length—and form the boundaries betweenvoids .[ 3] [ 4]
Galaxy filaments form thecosmic web and define the overall structure of the observable universe.[ 5] [ 6] [ 7]
Discovery of structures larger than superclusters began in the late 1980s. In 1987, astronomerR. Brent Tully of theUniversity of Hawaii 's Institute of Astronomy identified what he called thePisces–Cetus Supercluster Complex . TheCfA2 Great Wall was discovered in 1989,[ 8] Sloan Great Wall in 2003.[ 9]
In January 2013, researchers led by Roger Clowes of theUniversity of Central Lancashire announced the discovery of alarge quasar group , theHuge-LQG , which dwarfs previously discovered galaxy filaments in size.[ 10] gamma-ray bursts as reference points, astronomers discovered theHercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall , an extremely large filament measuring more than 10 billion light-years across.[ 11] [ 12] [ 13]
The filament subtype of filaments have roughly similar major and minor axes in cross-section, along the lengthwise axis.
A short filament was proposed by Adi Zitrin andNoah Brosch —detected by identifying an alignment of star-forming galaxies—in the neighborhood of theMilky Way and theLocal Group .[ 22] et al. (2014) based on distance measurements using theTRGB method.[ 23] Thegalaxy wall subtype of filaments have a significantly greater major axis than minor axis in cross-section, along the lengthwise axis.
Walls of Galaxies Wall Date Mean distance Dimension Notes CfA2 Great Wall (Coma Wall, Great Wall, Northern Great Wall, Great Northern Wall, CfA Great Wall)1989 z=0.03058 251 Mpc long: 750 Mly long This was the first super-large large-scale structure or pseudo-structure in the universe to be discovered. The CfA Homunculus lies at the heart of the Great Wall, and theComa Supercluster forms most of the homunculus structure. TheComa Cluster lies at the core.[ 24] [ 25] Sloan Great Wall (SDSS Great Wall)2003 z=0.07804 433 Mpc long This was the largest known galaxy filament to be discovered,[ 24] Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall found ten years later. Sculptor Wall (Southern Great Wall, Great Southern Wall, Southern Wall)8000 km/s long (inredshift space dimensions) The Sculptor Wall is "parallel" to the Fornax Wall and "perpendicular" to the Grus Wall.[ 26] [ 27] Grus Wall The Grus Wall is "perpendicular" to the Fornax and Sculptor Walls.[ 27] Fornax Wall TheFornax Cluster is part of this wall. The wall is "parallel" to the Sculptor Wall and "perpendicular" to the Grus Wall.[ 26] [ 27] Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall 2013 z≈2[ 12] 3 Gpc long,[ 12] [ 12] (inredshift space ) The largest known structure in the universe.[ 11] [ 12] [ 13]
Map of nearest galaxy walls [ edit ] The Universe within 500 million light years, showing the nearest galaxy walls Large quasar groups [ edit ] Large quasar groups (LQGs) are some of the largest structures known.[ 33] [ 34]
Large Quasar Groups LQG Date Mean distance Dimension Notes Clowes–Campusano LQG 1991 z=1.28 longest dimension: 630 Mpc It was the largest known structure in the universe from 1991 to 2011, until U1.11's discovery. U1.11 2011 z=1.11 longest dimension: 780 Mpc Was the largest known structure in the universe for a few months, until Huge-LQG's discovery. Huge-LQG 2012 z=1.27 characteristic size: 500 Mpc longest dimension: 1.24 Gpc It was the largest structure known in the universe,[ 33] [ 34] Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall found one year later.[ 12]
Supercluster complex [ edit ] Pisces–Cetus Supercluster Complex
Maps of large-scale distribution [ edit ] The universe within 1 billion light-years (307 Mpc) of Earth, showing local
superclusters forming filaments and voids
Map of nearest walls, voids and superclusters
2dF survey map, containing the SDSS Great Wall
2MASS XSC infrared sky map
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![A mosaic MeerKAT image of the Galactic Center at 20 cm with a 4 resolution.[35]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aMeerKAT_Galactic_filaments.jpg)
