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Scientists Just Discovered ‘Quipu,’ the New Largest Structure in Our Cosmos [yahoo.com]:

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• To explore deep space is to come to grips with humanity’s ever-shrinking importance in the universe.

• In another shot to our cosmic ego, scientists have discovered a new superstructure, named Quipu, that stretches 1.39 billion light-years across and contains the equivalent mass of 200 quadrillion Suns.

• This makes Quipu the largest known structure in the local universe, and understanding these structures can help scientists learn more about the evolution of the cosmos.

Humanity’s growing understanding of the universe can be best described as a “Copernican journey”—the centuries-long discovery that we are far from the center of all things. Earth, for example, orbits around the Sun (thanks for that one, Copernicus [popularmechanics.com]). But it’s also just one Solar System among billions in the Milky Way, which is turn a part of the Virgo Supercluster and the even largerLaniakea supercluster [popularmechanics.com]—one of the largest objects in the universe, at around 520 million light-years across.

However, even Laniakea isn’t the largest structure in the known universe. In 2003, scientists discovered the Sloan Great Wall (SGW), believed to stretch beyond 1 billion light-years. But now, in a study published on the preprint server arXiv [arxiv.org] (and accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics), scientists assert their belief that there’s a structure even larger than this celestial behemoth.

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Its name is Quipu, and astronomers estimate that its massive bulk stretches some 1.39 billion light-years across. According to Princeton astronomer J. Richard Gott III, who helped discover the SGW and who spoke with New Scientist [redirectingat.com], Quipu “end to end, is slightly longer” than SGW. The researchers also estimate that Quipu contains the equivalent mass of 200 quadrillion Suns.

Feeling insignificant yet?

“For a precise determination of cosmological parameters we need to understand the effects of the local large-scale structure of the Universe on the measurements,” the authors wrote. “Characterizing these superstructures is also important for astrophysical research, for example the study of the environmental dependence of galaxy evolution as well as for precision tests of cosmological models.”

The name Quipu—a reference to the textile-based recording devices [peruforless.com] used by several ancient cultures in the central Andes [popularmechanics.com]—is both catchy and descriptive. The authors note that one particular view gives “the best impression of the superstructure as a long filament with small side filaments, which initiated the naming of Quipu.”

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The team analyzed Quipu, along with four other superstructures, using data from the German Aerospace Center-led ROSAT X-ray satellite [nasa.gov] and the team’s Cosmic Large-Scale Structure in X-rays (CLASSIX) Cluster Survey. They found that these structures together contain roughly 45 percent of all galaxy clusters, 30 percent of all galaxies, and 25 percent of matter in the observable universe. However, even larger structures might still exist. The Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall, located further afield than Quipu, has been estimated to stretch 10 billion light-years long (though its true size is still up for debate [oup.com]).

Understanding Quipu and other superstructures like it is vitally important, as they challenge our current understanding of cosmological evolution, which states that matter should be relatively evenly distributed throughout the universe. These superstructures are so huge that forming them could theoretically take longer than the universe is old [redirectingat.com].

However, Quipu isn’t a fixture of the universe. Despite its immense stature, it too will eventually disappear from the cosmic stage. “In the future cosmic evolution, these superstructures are bound to break up into several collapsing units,” the authors wrote. “They are thus transient configurations.”

Even cosmic superstructures can’t escape the inexorable march of time [popularmechanics.com].

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"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."

• To explore deep space is to come to grips with humanity’s ever-shrinking importance in the universe.

• In another shot to our cosmic ego, scientists have discovered a new superstructure, named Quipu, that stretches 1.39 billion light-years across and contains the equivalent mass of 200 quadrillion Suns.

• This makes Quipu the largest known structure in the local universe, and understanding these structures can help scientists learn more about the evolution of the cosmos.

Humanity’s growing understanding of the universe can be best described as a “Copernican journey”—the centuries-long discovery that we are far from the center of all things. Earth, for example, orbits around the Sun (thanks for that one, Copernicus [popularmechanics.com]). But it’s also just one Solar System among billions in the Milky Way, which is turn a part of the Virgo Supercluster and the even largerLaniakea supercluster [popularmechanics.com]—one of the largest objects in the universe, at around 520 million light-years across.

However, even Laniakea isn’t the largest structure in the known universe. In 2003, scientists discovered the Sloan Great Wall (SGW), believed to stretch beyond 1 billion light-years. But now, in a study published on the preprint server arXiv [arxiv.org] (and accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics), scientists assert their belief that there’s a structure even larger than this celestial behemoth.

AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement

Its name is Quipu, and astronomers estimate that its massive bulk stretches some 1.39 billion light-years across. According to Princeton astronomer J. Richard Gott III, who helped discover the SGW and who spoke with New Scientist [redirectingat.com], Quipu “end to end, is slightly longer” than SGW. The researchers also estimate that Quipu contains the equivalent mass of 200 quadrillion Suns.

Feeling insignificant yet?

“For a precise determination of cosmological parameters we need to understand the effects of the local large-scale structure of the Universe on the measurements,” the authors wrote. “Characterizing these superstructures is also important for astrophysical research, for example the study of the environmental dependence of galaxy evolution as well as for precision tests of cosmological models.”

The name Quipu—a reference to the textile-based recording devices [peruforless.com] used by several ancient cultures in the central Andes [popularmechanics.com]—is both catchy and descriptive. The authors note that one particular view gives “the best impression of the superstructure as a long filament with small side filaments, which initiated the naming of Quipu.”

AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement

The team analyzed Quipu, along with four other superstructures, using data from the German Aerospace Center-led ROSAT X-ray satellite [nasa.gov] and the team’s Cosmic Large-Scale Structure in X-rays (CLASSIX) Cluster Survey. They found that these structures together contain roughly 45 percent of all galaxy clusters, 30 percent of all galaxies, and 25 percent of matter in the observable universe. However, even larger structures might still exist. The Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall, located further afield than Quipu, has been estimated to stretch 10 billion light-years long (though its true size is still up for debate [oup.com]).

Understanding Quipu and other superstructures like it is vitally important, as they challenge our current understanding of cosmological evolution, which states that matter should be relatively evenly distributed throughout the universe. These superstructures are so huge that forming them could theoretically take longer than the universe is old [redirectingat.com].

However, Quipu isn’t a fixture of the universe. Despite its immense stature, it too will eventually disappear from the cosmic stage. “In the future cosmic evolution, these superstructures are bound to break up into several collapsing units,” the authors wrote. “They are thus transient configurations.”

Even cosmic superstructures can’t escape the inexorable march of time [popularmechanics.com].

You Might Also Like

• The Do’s and Don’ts of Using Painter’s Tape [popularmechanics.com]

• The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere [popularmechanics.com]

• Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life? [popularmechanics.com]

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