The structure, called the Giant Arc, consists of galaxies, galactic clusters, and lots of gas and dust.
Located 9.2 billion light-years from Earth, the structure occupies roughly one 15th of the observable universe (the region of objects and matter now observable from Earth).
The structure itself cannot be seen with the naked eye in the sky. However, according to the researchers, if it could be seen, it would be about 20 times the width of the Full Moon.
This challenges cosmology’s assumption that “wherever you look, matter in the universe is distributed evenly on a large scale.”
According to this assumption, when looking at areas with a volume of over 1 billion light years, it is seen that the materials are evenly distributed. Giant Arc, on the other hand, corresponds to about 3 times this theoretical threshold.
Alexia Lopez, a PhD student at the University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom, announced her findings at the American Astronomical Society’s online meeting on June 7. “This structure could upset cosmology as we know it,” Lopez said.
At the time of making this discovery, Lopez was mapping objects in the sky using light from about 120,000 quasars, the high-energy galaxy.
As this light travels between quasars and Earth, it is absorbed by different elements, leaving traces that can give researchers important information.
According to Lopez, quasars act like spotlights in a dark room in this way, illuminating the matter that comes between them and the Earth.
The scientist stated that a structure began to emerge in the middle of the cosmic maps he made during this study. “That was a big broadcast tip,” Lopez continued.
I remember going to Roger Clowes and saying, ‘Oh, look at that.
Lopez then conducted three statistical analyzes with his advisor, Clowes, to understand the possibility that the galaxies might be arranged in arcs by chance. All three analyzes determined that the Giant Bow had a less than 0.0003 percent chance of not being real.
Commenting on the findings of the study, Oxford University astrophysicist Subir Sarkar states that this sounds good, but it is not enough.
At the moment, I would say the evidence is encouraging but not yet convincing.
Source: The Independent
–
