Since Edwin Hubble identified in the 1930s that the galaxies were not randomly distributed, but grouped in clusters, astronomers seek to identify supeglomerates and galactic walls .
Today it is known that you can not understand the universe without knowing these massive structures, which not only affect essential cosmological measurements, but also influence the behavior of matter and light.
Recently, an international team of physicists and astronomers, led by researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Physics in Munich, Germany, “made history”, when finding the largest structure ever known in the universe .
Call of Quipu in honor of an Inca counting system made of colorful cords, this huge collection of galaxies extends for about 1.3 billion light years (over 400 megaparsecs) in length.
This structure and another four found by the researchers contain 45% of galaxy clusters, 30% of galaxies, 25% of the matter and occupy a volume fraction of 13% of the observed space.
How was this cosmic megaestructure detected?
Led by MPE’s physicist Hans Boehringer, the study was part of the large -scale x -ray cosmic structures clusters research. Studied through their X-ray emissions, these clusters contain thousands of galaxies and large amount of intra-aglomerate hot gas.
In their research, the authors found Quipu and four other superstructures within a strip of 130 MPC (Megaparscs, the equivalent of about 424 million light years) and 250 MPC (about 815 million light years) away.
To get an idea of these extensions, just say that our galaxy, The Milky Way is approximately 100,000 light years in diameter . A parsec (PC), in turn, is equivalent to 3.26 light years, or about 30.9 trillion kilometers.
Using X -ray galaxies cluster emissions is critical to map the mass of these superstructures, because electromagnetic radiation oste the most dense regions of matter concentration and the base cosmic web.
Regardless of the reasons why this happens, the authors say, “these large structures leave their mark in cosmological observations.” This is remarkable in the Cosmic Microwave (CMB) background, the remaining radiation of Big Bang.
Influences of superstructures such as quipu in observing the universe
Superstructures, such as Quipu, affect the CMB because their severity causes the so-called integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect, which are small detectable variations of temperature in Big Bang fossil radiation.
Superstructures also affect the Hubble constant (universe rate) constant, as its strong gravitational attraction prints peculiar speeds to galaxies. This can “mess up” the measurement of speeds above the expected flow.
In addition, the mass of these cosmic megaconcentrations doubles and diverts the light that passes through them, causing the effect called gravitational lens . The result is distorted images of galaxies and other luminous sources.
Finally, Quipu and its sisters affect the way matter is organized in the universe, both visible (baronic), made of stars, planets and gas, and dark matter, which does not emit light but exerts gravity.
In addition to describing superstructures, the study also foresees its end, saying that in future cosmic evolution, they are condemned to collapse in many distinct units, and therefore “transient configurations”.
“But today, they are special physical entities, with characteristic properties and special cosmic environments that deserve special attention,” the study concludes.
The article was accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics magazine.
This content was originally published in Quipu: the largest structure in the universe is 1.3 billion light years wide on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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