A thread of galaxies woven into the fabric of the cosmos. The Quipu structure It reveals itself to astronomers as a gigantic network of galactic clusters that surpasses all previous size records. With a mass equal to 200 quadrillion suns and an extension of 1,3 billion light-years, this discovery rewrites our astronomy books.
Quipu, the size of the cosmic giant
The Quipu structure, which takes its name from the Khipu, an ancient Inca counting system based on knots and ropes (if you are also interested in this story, we talked about it here), it spans a distance that is more than 13.000 times the length of our Milky Way.
And like a Khipu it is made up of a long main filament with multiple side branches, creating a complex network of interconnected galaxy clusters.
I study, awaiting publication in the magazine Astronomy and Astrophysics, reveals that this cosmic structure is so obvious that it can be seen even with the naked eye on celestial maps. It is located at a distance of between 425 and 815 million light-years from Earth, relatively close in cosmic terms.
The cosmic context
Before Quipu, the title of the largest structure in the universe was disputed by Hercules Wall-Corona Borealis, a mysterious concentration of matter located about 10 billion light years away from us, with an estimated extension of 10 billion light years. Its existence, however, remains a matter of debate in the scientific community.
In addition to Quipu, researchers have identified four other giant cosmic structures: the Shapley Supercluster, Serpens-Corona Borealis superstructure, Hercules Supercluster , Sculptor-Pegasus superstructure. Together, these five cosmic colossi They contain 45% of the galaxy clusters, 30% of the galaxies, and 25% of the matter in the observable universe, occupying 13% of its total volume.
The effects on the cosmos
These immense structures significantly influence the surrounding cosmic environment. Researchers have observed that they impact the cosmic background radiation (CMB), radio waves left over from the Big Bang that are uniformly present in space. Furthermore, the local velocity of these galaxy streams can distort measurements of the overall expansion of the universe, known as Hubble constant.
Quipu, nothing is forever
Despite their colossal size, these structures are meant to be temporary. The continued expansion of the universe will gradually separate them into smaller units. As the researchers note:
In the future of cosmic evolution, these superstructures are destined to fragment into several collapsing units. They are therefore transitory configurations. But at the moment they are special physical entities with characteristic properties and special cosmic environments that deserve special attention.
The discovery of Quipu and other superstructures opens new perspectives on understanding the evolution of galaxies and the distribution of matter in the universe, once again challenging the limits of our understanding of the cosmos.
