Huge-LQG
The Huge-LQG (also called U1.27), which stands for Huge Large Quasar Group, consists of 73 quasars and measures 4 billion light-years across. It is the most massive structure known in the observable universe.[1][2][3]
The Huge-LQG was discovered in January 2013 by a team led by Dr. Roger G. Clowes at the University of Central Lancashire. The astronomers used data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
Size
The Huge-LQG is estimated to be approximately 1240 megaparsecs (4 billion light-years) in its longest dimension, by 640 Mpc and 370 Mpc in the others[4] and is the largest known structure in the universe. It has a mass of (solar masses). The Huge-LQG was initially named U1.27 due to its average redshift of 1.27, and is located in the sky in the constellation of Leo.[5]
The Huge-LQG is 615Mpc from the Clowes-Campusano LQG (U1.28), a group of 34 quasars discovered in 1991.
Cosmological Principle
The cosmological principle implies that at a sufficiently large scale, the universe is homogeneous; different places will appear similar to one another. Whilst Yadav et al have suggested a maximum scale of 260/h Mpc for structures within the universe according to this heuristic, other authors have suggested values as low as 60/h Mpc.[6] Yadav's calculation suggests that the maximum size of a structure can be about 370Mpc[3]
The Sloan Great Wall, discovered in 2003, has a length of 423Mpc,[7] which is only just consistent with the cosmological principle.
The Huge-LQG is three times longer than, and twice as wide as is predicted possible according to these current models, and so challenges our understanding of the universe on large scales.[3]
See also
- Large-scale structure of the cosmos
- Hypercluster
- Sloan Great Wall
- Pisces-Cetus Supercluster Complex
- CfA2 Great Wall
References
- ^ Aron, Jacob. "Largest structure challenges Einstein's smooth cosmos". New Scientist. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ^ "Astronomers discover the largest structure in the universe". Royal astronomical society. Retrieved 2013-01-13.
- ^ a b c Clowes, Roger; Harris; Raghunathan; Campusano; Soechting; Graham (2012-01-11). "A structure in the early Universe at z ∼ 1.3 that exceeds the homogeneity scale of the R-W concordance cosmology". Monthly notices of the royal astronomical society. 1211: 6256. arXiv:1211.6256. Bibcode:2012arXiv1211.6256C. doi:10.1093/mnras/sts497. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|year=/|date=mismatch (help); Unknown parameter|class=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ "The Largest Structure in Universe Discovered --Quasar Group 4 Billion Light-Years Wide Challenges Current Cosmology". Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ^ Prostak, Sergio (11 January 2013). "Universe's Largest Structure Discovered". scinews.com. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- ^ Yadav, Jaswant (25 February 2010). "Fractal dimension as a measure of the scale of homogeneity". Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 405 (3): 2009–2015. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16612.x. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Gott, J. Richard, III; et al. (2005). "A Map of the Universe". The Astrophysical Journal. 624 (2): 463–484. arXiv:astro-ph/0310571. Bibcode:2005ApJ...624..463G. doi:10.1086/428890Template:Inconsistent citations
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Further reading
- Clowes, Roger G.; Harris, Kathryn A.; Raghunathan, Srinivasan; Campusano, Luis E.; Soechting, Ilona K.; Graham, Matthew J.; "A structure in the early universe at z ~ 1.3 that exceeds the homogeneity scale of the R-W concordance cosmology"; arXiv:1211.6256 ; Bibcode:2012arXiv1211.6256C ; doi:10.1093/mnras/sts497 ; Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 11 January 2013