The Giant Arc

The Giant Arc is a large-scale structure discovered in June 2021 that spans 3.3 billion light years.[1] The structure of galaxies exceeds the 1.2 billion light year threshold, challenging the cosmological principle that at large enough scales the universe is considered to be the same in every place (homogeneous) and in every direction (isotropic). The Giant Arc consists of galaxies, galactic clusters, as well as gas and dust. It is located 9.2 billion light-years away and stretches across roughly a 15th of the radius of the observable universe.[2] It was discovered using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey by the team of Alexia M. Lopez, a doctoral candidate in cosmology at the University of Central Lancashire.[1][3]

The Giant Arc is the curved line of grey regions in the center. These are areas of dense galaxy clusters. The blue dots show background quasars, or spotlights.

If the Giant Arc were visible in the night sky it would form an arc occupying as much space as 20 full moons, or 10 degrees on the sky.[4]

See also

References
  1. Hond, Bas den. "Line of galaxies is so big it breaks our understanding of the universe". New Scientist.
  2. Mann, Adam (11 June 2021). "'Giant arc' stretching 3.3 billion light-years across the cosmos shouldn't exist". livescience.com.
  3. Fox-Skelly, Jasmin (March 3, 2023). "The giant arcs that may dwarf everything in the cosmos". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
  4. "New Astronomy: Large-Scale Structure in our Universe by: Alexia M. Lopez" – via www.youtube.com.


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