Article Image

IPFS News Link • Science, Medicine and Technology

Mysterious 'supervoid' in space is largest object ever discovered, scientists claim

• http://www.telegraph.co., By Sarah Knapton

Astronomers have discovered a curious empty section of space which is missing around 10,000 galaxies.

The 'supervoid', which is 1.8 billion light-years across, is the largest known structure ever discovered in the universe but scientists are baffled about what it is and why it is so barren.

It sits in a region of space which is much colder than other parts of the universe and although it is not a vacuum, it seems to have around 20 per cent less matter than other regions.

An unknown force is pulling the Milky Way towards it at 14m mph

Although the Big Bang theory allows for areas that are cooler and hotter, the size of the void does not fit with predicted models. Simply put, it is too big to exist.

István Szapudi, of University of Hawaii at Manoa, described the object as possibly "the largest individual structure ever identified by humanity".

It was picked up using Hawaii's Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) telescope located on Haleakala, Maui, and Nasa's Wide Field Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite.


midfest.info