List of largest cosmic structures
This is a list of the largest cosmic structures so far discovered. The unit of measurement used is the light-year (distance traveled by light in one Julian year; approximately 9.46 trillion kilometres).
This list includes superclusters, galaxy filaments and large quasar groups (LQGs). The list characterizes each structure based on its longest dimension.
Note that this list refers only to coupling of matter with defined limits, and not the coupling of matter in general (as per example the cosmic microwave background, which fills the entire universe). All structures in this list are defined as to whether their presiding limits have been identified.
There are some speculations about this list:
- The Zone of Avoidance, or the part of the sky occupied by the Milky Way, blocks out light to several structures, making their limits imprecisely identified.
- Some structures are far too distant to be seen even with the most powerful telescopes. Some factors are included to explain the structure (like gravitational lensing and redshift data).
- Some structures have no defined limits, or endpoints. All structures are believed to be part of the cosmic web, which is a conclusive idea. Most structures are overlapped by nearby galaxies, creating a problem of how to carefully define the structure's limit.
List of largest structures
Structure name (year discovered) |
Maximum dimension (in light-years) |
Notes |
---|---|---|
Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall (2014)[1] | 9,700,000,000[2][3][4] | Discovered through gamma-ray burst mapping. Existence as a structure is disputed.[5][6] |
Giant GRB Ring (2015)[7] | 5,600,000,000[7] | Discovered through gamma-ray burst mapping. Largest-known regular formation in the observable Universe.[7] |
Huge-LQG (2012-2013) | 4,000,000,000[8][9][10] | Decoupling of 73 quasars. Largest-known large quasar group and the first structure found to exceed 3 billion light-years. |
U1.11 LQG (2011) | 2,500,000,000 | Involves 38 quasars. Adjacent to the Clowes-Campusano LQG. |
Clowes–Campusano LQG (1991) | 2,000,000,000 | Grouping of 34 quasars. Discovered by Roger Clowes and Luis Campusano. |
Sloan Great Wall (2003) | 1,380,000,000 | Discovered through the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. |
South Pole Wall (2020) | 1,370,000,000[11][12][13][14][15][16] | The largest contiguous feature in the local volume and comparable to the Sloan Great Wall (see above) at half the distance. It is located at the celestial South Pole. |
(Theoretical limit) | 1,200,000,000 | Structures larger than this size are incompatible with the cosmological principle according to all estimates. However, whether the existence of these structures itself constitutes a refutation of the cosmological principle is still unclear. [17] |
BOSS Great Wall (BGW) (2016) | 1,000,000,000 | Structure consisting of 4 superclusters of galaxies. The mass and volume exceeds the amount of Sloan Great Wall.[18] |
Perseus–Pegasus Filament (1985) | 1,000,000,000 | This galaxy filament contains Perseus-Pisces Supercluster. |
Pisces-Cetus Supercluster Complex (1987) | 1,000,000,000 | Contains the Milky Way, and is the first galaxy filament to be discovered. (The first LQG was found earlier in 1982.) A new report in 2014 confirms the Milky Way as a member of Laniakea Supercluster. |
Caelum Supercluster | 910,000,000 | Caelum Supercluster is a collection of over 550,000 galaxies. It is the largest of all galaxy superclusters. |
CfA2 Great Wall (1989) | 750,000,000 | Also known as the Coma Wall |
Saraswati Supercluster | 652,000,000[19] | Saraswati Supercluster consists of 43 massive galaxy clusters, which include Abell 2361 and ZWCl 2341.1+0000. |
Boötes Supercluster | 620,000,000 | |
Horologium Supercluster (2005) | 550,000,000 | Also known as Horologium-Reticulum Supercluster. |
Laniakea Supercluster (2014) | 520,000,000 | Galaxy supercluster in which the Earth is located |
Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 11 | 500,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[20][21] |
Hyperion proto-supercluster (2018) | 489,000,000 | the largest and earliest known proto– supercluster |
Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 12 | 480,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[20][21] |
Newman LQG (U1.54) | 450,000,000 | |
Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 5 | 430,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[20][21] |
Tesch–Engels LQG | 420,000,000 | |
Draco Supercluster | 410,000,000 | |
The Great Attractor | 400,000,000 | |
Shapley Supercluster | 400,000,000 | First identified by Harlow Shapley as a cloud of galaxies in 1930, it was not identified as a structure until 1989. |
Komberg–Kravstov–Lukash LQG 3 | 390,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[20][21] |
U1.90 | 380,000,000 | |
Lynx–Ursa Major Filament (LUM Filament) | 370,000,000 | |
Sculptor Wall | 370,000,000 | Also known as Southern Great Wall |
Pisces-Cetus Supercluster | 350,000,000 | |
Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 2 | 350,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[20][21] |
z=2.38 filament around protocluster ClG J2143-4423 | 330,000,000 | |
Webster LQG | 320,000,000 | First LQG (Large Quasar Group) discovered[21][22] |
Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 8 | 310,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[20][21] |
Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 1 | 280,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[20][21] |
Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 6 | 260,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[20][21] |
Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 7 | 250,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[20][21] |
SCL @ 1338+27 | 228,314,341 | One of most distant known superclusters. |
Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 9 | 200,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[20][21] |
SSA22 Protocluster | 200,000,000 | Giant collection of Lyman-alpha blobs |
Ursa Major Supercluster | 200,000,000 | |
Komberg-Kravtsov-Lukash LQG 10 | 180,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[20][21] |
Ophiuchus Supercluster | 170,000,000 | |
Virgo Supercluster | 110,000,000 | Part of the Laniakea Supercluster (see above). It also contains the Milky Way Galaxy, which contains the Solar System where the Earth orbits the Sun. Reported for reference |
List of largest voids
Voids are immense spaces between galaxy filaments and other large-scale structures. Technically they are not structures. They are vast spaces which contain very few, or no galaxies. They are theorized to be caused by quantum fluctuations during the early formation of the universe.
A list of the largest voids so far discovered is below. Each is ranked according to its longest dimension.
Void name/designation | Maximum dimension (in light-years) |
Notes |
---|---|---|
KBC Void | 2,000,000,000 | Void containing the Milky Way galaxy and Local Group |
Giant Void | 1,300,000,000 | Also known as Canes Venatici Supervoid |
Tully-11 void | 880,000,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
Tully-10 void | 792,000,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
Tully-9 void | 746,000,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
B&B Abell-20 void | 684,000,000 | |
B&B Abell-9 void | 652,000,000 | |
Tully-7 void | 567,240,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
Tully-4 void | 564,000,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
Tully-6 void | 557,460,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
Bahcall & Soneiro 1982 void | 554,465,200 | This suspected void ranged 100 degrees across the sky, and has shown up on other surveys as several separate voids. [23] |
Tully-8 void | 554,200,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
B&B Abell-21 void | 521,600,000 | |
B&B Abell-28 void | 521,600,000 | |
Eridanus Supervoid | 489,000,000 (most likely value) | A recent analysis of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) in 2007 has found an irregularity of the temperature fluctuation of the cosmic microwave background within the vicinity of the constellation Eridanus with analysis found to be 70 microkelvins cooler than the average CMB temperature. One speculation is that a void could cause the cold spot, with the possible size on the left. However, it may be as large as 1 billion light-years, close to the size of the Giant Void. |
B&B Abell-4 void | 489,000,000 | |
B&B Abell-15 void | 489,000,000 | |
Tully-3 void | 489,000,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
1994EEDTAWSS-10 void | 469,440,000 | |
Tully-1 void | 456,400,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
B&B Abell-8 void | 456,000,000 | |
B&B Abell-22 void | 456,000,000 | |
Tully-2 void | 443,360,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
B&B Abell-24 void | 423,800,000 | |
B&B Abell-27 void | 423,800,000 | |
CMASS North 4407 void | 414,002,857 | [24] |
B&B Abell-7 void | 391,200,000 | |
B&B Abell-12 void | 391,200,000 | |
B&B Abell-29 void | 391,200,000 | |
1994EEDTAWSS-21 void | 378,160,000 | |
Southern Local Supervoid | 365,120,000 | |
B&B Abell-10 void | 358,600,000 | |
B&B Abell-11 void | 358,600,000 | |
B&B Abell-13 void | 358,600,000 | |
B&B Abell-17 void | 358,600,000 | |
B&B Abell-19 void | 358,600,000 | |
B&B Abell-23 void | 358,600,000 | |
CMASS North 11496 void | 342,287,675.8 | [25] |
1994EEDTAWSS-19 void | 342,100,000 | |
Northern Local Supervoid | 339,202,240 | Virgo Supercluster, Coma Supercluster, Perseus-Pisces Supercluster, Ursa Major-Lynx Supercluster, Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster, Sculptor Supercluster, Pavo-Corona Australes Supercluster form a sheet between the Northern Local Supervoid and the Southern Local Supervoid. The Hercules Supercluster separates the Northern Local Void from the Boötes Void. The Perseus-Pisces Supercluster and Pegasus Supercluster form a sheet separate the Northern Local Void and Southern Local Void from the Pegasus Void.[26] |
Boötes void | 330,000,000 | Also known as The Giant Nothing |
1994EEDTAWSS-12 void | 328,000,000 | |
CMASS North 15935 void | 252,333,851 | [27] |
SSRS1 4 void | 217,437,333.3 | |
GACIRASS V0 void | 215,262,960 | |
CMASS North 60 void | 210,683,729.8 | [28] |
SSRS2 3 void | 198,302,848 | |
Local void | 195,693,600 | One of the nearest voids known and contains 3 galaxies. |
SSRS2 2 void | 183,299,672 | |
SSRS2 1 void | 177,102,708 | |
IRAS 1 void | 166,399,560 | |
SSRS1 3 void | 163,078,000 | |
IRAS 4 void | 146,770,200 | |
IRAS 3 void | 145,139,420 | |
IRAS 2 void | 142,856,328 | |
IRAS 7 void | 141,877,860 | |
SSRS2 11 void | 139,920,924 | |
IRAS 6 void | 135,028,584 | |
IRAS 13 void | 131,440,868 | |
Pegasus void | 130,462,400 | [29] The Perseus-Pisces Supercluster and Pegasus Supercluster form a sheet separate the Northern Local Void and Southern Local Void from the Pegasus Void.[26] |
IRAS 8 void | 128,831,620 | |
SSRS2 9 void | 127,200,840 | |
IRAS 9 void | 117,416,160 | |
IRAS 5 void | 117,416,160 | |
SSRS2 4 void | 116,111,536 | |
SSRS2 5 void | 113,502,288 | |
SSRS2 10 void | 113,502,288 | |
IRAS 10 void | 109,588,416 | |
SSRS1 1 void | 108,718,666.7 | Located just behind the galaxy concentration Eridanus-Fornax-Dorado. |
IRAS 11 void | 104,369,920 | |
SSRS2 6 void | 104,369,920 | |
CMASS North 10020 void | 104,135,087.7 | [30] |
IRAS 12 void | 102,739,140 | |
IRAS 15 void | 99,151,424 | |
SSRS1 2 void | 97,846,800 | |
IRAS 14 void | 93,932,928 | |
SSRS2 8 void | 90,671,368 | |
SSRS2 15 void | 89,040,588 | |
GACIRASS V1 void | 83,169,780 | |
SSRS2 7 void | 83,169,780 | |
SSRS2 12 void | 81,539,000 | |
GACIRASS V3 void | 81,539,000 | |
SSRS2 13 void | 72,080,476 | |
SSRS2 14 void | 69,471,228 | |
SSRS2 18 void | 68,818,916 | |
SSRS2 16 void | 66,209,668 | |
GACIRASS V2 void | 63,600,420 | |
SSRS2 17 void | 61,969,640 |
See also
- List of most massive black holes
- List of largest galaxies
- List of largest nebulae
- List of largest stars and List of most massive stars
- List of largest exoplanets
- List of astronomical objects
- List of voids
- List of Large quasar groups
- Timeline of knowledge about galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and large-scale structure
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