Astronomers have discovered what they are calling the largest-known structure in the universe. Named “Quipu” after an Incan measuring system, the superstructure spans an astonishing 1.3 billion light-years across which is over 13,000 times the length of the Milky Way, according to a report in Live Science.
The current contender for the biggest structure in the universe is the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall which is located 10 billion light-years from Earth and spans 10 billion light-years across but its existence remains disputed.
While peering through the data, the researchers discovered Quipu as well as four more giant structures. Together, these five superclusters contain 45 per cent of the galaxy clusters, 30 per cent of the galaxies, and 25 per cent of the matter in the observable universe, according to the study published in the preprint website ArXiv which is yet to be peer-reviewed.
“Quipu is actually a prominent structure readily noticeable by eye in a sky map of clusters in the target redshift range, without the help of a detection method,” the team wrote in the paper.
Superclusters are large collections of galaxy clusters, groups, and individual galaxies that are typically not gravitationally bound to each other. For example, our Milky Way Galaxy is located on the outer edges of the Laniakea supercluster.
As per the study, Quipu is responsible for a “large part of the gravitational pull that causes the peculiar motion of the Local Group with respect to the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) frame”. However, more information is needed to identify the effects of such a structure on its neighborhood.
“For a precise determination of cosmological parameters, we need to understand the effects of the local large-scale structure of the universe on the measurements,” the authors wrote..
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‘Transient configurations’
The scientists added that while the superstructure was massive in size currently, it would soon collapse and form independent units.
“In the future cosmic evolution, these superstructures are bound to break up into several collapsing units,” the study highlighted.
“They are thus transient configurations. But at present, they are special physical entities with characteristic properties and special cosmic environments deserving special attention.”
As per the researchers, studying an object as massive as Quipu could help broaden our understanding of how galaxies evolve and improve our cosmological models.