Astronomers have recently discovered what could be the largest known structure in the universe. Dubbed ‘Quipu’, this large formation measures 1.3 billion light-years across and potentially contains around 200 quadrillion solar masses. It is given its name based on the Incan system of knotted cords that were used for counting, the structure itself resembling a long central filament and several branching filaments.
Quipu has an incredible scale of over 13,000-fold in terms of length that goes beyond the Milky Way, thus making it the longest structure ever discovered while pushing Laniākea supercluster out of the record book.
This discovery is part of the study titled Unveiling the Largest Structures in the Nearby Universe: Discovery of the Quipu Superstructure, led by Hans Bohringer from the Max Planck Institute. The study is part of a broader effort to create a detailed map of the distribution of matter across the universe, using various types of light. As light from distant objects moves toward the red end of the electromagnetic spectrum, known as redshift, it indicates these objects are farther away. While redshifts up to 0.3 have been thoroughly studied, this research focuses on objects with redshifts between 0.3 and 0.6, representing even more distant parts of the universe. The greater the redshift, the farther away the object.
“Quipu is, in fact, a prominent structure that can easily be seen with naked eye from the sky map of clusters at a redshift falling within the range of targets without the help of any detection method,” wrote the team in its paper.
The newly identified structures were discovered 425 to 815 million light-years from Earth.
Quipu is not the only giant structure discovered in this research. In addition to Quipu, four other giant superstructures were discovered: the Shapley supercluster, the Serpens-Corona Borealis superstructure, the Hercules supercluster, and the Sculptor-Pegasus superstructure. The five superstructures make up about 45% of galaxy clusters, 30% of galaxies, and 25% of the matter in the universe. They cover about 13% of the volume of the universe.
The researchers also found that these superstructures impact the general universe environment. Their gravity causes light distortions, known as gravitational lensing and affects the CMB, which is residual radiation from the Big Bang. Superstructures can also influence measurements of the universe’s expansion. This is referred to as the Hubble constant.
“In the future cosmic evolution, these superstructures are bound to break up into several collapsing units. They are thus transient configurations. But at present they are special physical entities with characteristic properties and special cosmic environments deserving special attention,” the researchers wrote.
