Astrophysicists from Hungary and the United States have discovered that one of the largest structures in the Universe is even larger than previously thought. With the help of gamma-ray bursts, it was discovered that the Great Wall of Hercules - Corona Borealis can reach 10 billion light years in diameter, writes UNN with reference to Space.com.
Details
The new discovery calls into question standard cosmological models, according to which the Universe should be homogeneous on large scales. A massive cluster of galaxies called MACS J0717.5+3745 may be similar to the Great Wall of Hercules - Corona Borealis
Researchers led by István Horváth analyzed 542 gamma-ray bursts. These "beacons" made it possible to detect clusters of matter at incredible distances. It became known that the flares are concentrated along the Wall of Hercules, which extends in the range of red shifts from z≈0.33 to z≈2.43. This indicates that such a structure has existed for billions of years and occupies a significant part of the observed cosmos.
What does this mean?
According to the cosmological principle, the size of structures in the Universe cannot exceed 1.2 billion light years. However, the Great Wall of Hercules is almost eight times larger. This unexpected discovery makes two scenarios possible: either the models of the evolution of the Universe constructed by humans are incomplete, or the cosmological principle is wrong and needs to be revised.
If such huge structures really exist, we do not yet understand how they are formed. For example, even the Giant Group of Quasars or the Great Sloan Wall seem trivial compared to this giant
Reference
Gamma-ray burst is a large-scale cosmic emission of energy of gamma radiation of the electromagnetic spectrum. Gamma-ray bursts are the brightest electromagnetic events occurring in the Universe.
Addition
Dark matter could contribute to the formation of giant black holes in the early Universe, Canadian scientists suggested based on a new study. This assumption helps to explain how giant black holes formed even before the first stars appeared.