In the Big Bang theory, for the first 400,000 years, the universe was a cauldron of hot plasma similar to the interior of the sun. Pulled by the forces of gravity and radiation, these plasmas oscillate and spread outward, like ripples. As the universe cools, it will no longer be plasma but will solidify, leaving behind huge, three-dimensional ripples.
Over the next billions of years, galaxies began to appear at their peak density and formed huge bubble-like structures.
Cullan Howlett, an astronomer at the University of Queensland, said: “This amazing bubble is a fossil of the Big Bang when the universe was formed 13 billion years ago.”
This cosmic bubble is now named “Ho’oleilana”. It is located about 820 million light-years away from the Earth, and its width reaches an astonishing 1 billion light-years.
Callan said that because the structure was so large, even though no one was looking for it, it spilled over to the edge of the area of space the team was analyzing. “It dwarfs many of the largest known cosmic structures, such as the Sloan Great Wall (SGW) and the Boötes Supercluster. Even they are actually just part of this bubble. “
“The most incredible thing is that it’s in our backyard.”
Experts say this type of structure was predicted by Big Bang theory as a pattern in the density distribution of the early universe called a baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO).
BAO provides an independent way to measure the expansion rate of the universe and how it has changed throughout the history of the universe.
“This discovery gives us a clearer picture of how fast the universe is expanding,” Callan said. “Our analysis shows that because this bubble is larger than expected, it means that the expansion of the universe is greater than originally predicted.”
Callan believes that the biggest problem in astronomy at present may be how to measure the expansion rate of the universe. The emergence of Ho’oleilana also brings experts one step closer to major changes in the field of astronomy, and even the entire universe model may need to be re-evaluated.
