Universe's Largest Structure Could Be 50% Bigger Than Previously Thought

The contender for the largest known structure in the universe, the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall (or Great Wall, for short), might be even larger than scientists had previously thought. As per a new study published on the preprint server arXiv, the Great Wall, which is located 10 billion light-years from Earth, could be as large as 15 billion light-years in size, up from the previous estimate of 10 billion light-years long.

Using a recently developed methodology, scientists re-examined the Great Wall, which was first discovered, more than a decade ago.

"Evidence is provided that the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall cluster is larger than previously thought. The extension of this cluster's size does not appear to have been due to statistical variations or sampling biases," the study highlighted.

By analysing the gamma-ray bursts that are produced during extreme cosmic events such as the collapse of a supernova, the birth of a black hole, or the collision of two neutron stars, scientists managed to figure out the new length of the Great Wall.

The team examined 542 gamma-ray bursts with known redshifts, which showed that the Great Wall may extend from a redshift of 0.33 to a redshift of 2.43 -- a total distance of around 15 billion light-years

"We also found evidence that the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall is larger than previously identified and that it appears to encompass several smaller clusters," it added.

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Quipu superstructure

In February this year, scientists claimed to have discovered another large superstructure called Quipu, believed to measure 1.3 billion light-years across, which is over 13,000 times the length of the Milky Way.

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 neighbourhood.

The scientists added that while the superstructure was massive in size currently, it would soon collapse and form independent units.

Studying an object as massive as the Great Wall or Quipu could help scientists broaden their understanding of how galaxies evolve and improve the existing cosmological models.