Giant Structure Lurking in Deep Space Challenges Our Understanding of The Universe

[gamaya80]

A colossal structure in the distant Universe is defying our understanding of how the Universe evolved.

In light that has traveled for 6.9 billion years to reach us, astronomers have found a giant, almost perfect ring of galaxies, some 1.3 billion light-years in diameter. It doesn't match any known structure or formation mechanism.
The discovery, led by astronomer Alexia Lopez of the University of Central Lancashire,  was presented at the 243rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society in January,
It's the second giant structure discovered by Lopez and her colleagues. The first, called the Giant Arc, is actually in the same part of the sky, at the same distance away. When the arc's discovery was announced in 2021, it puzzled astronomers. The Big Ring only deepens the mystery.

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But the size is just one of the problems. The other is what it means for cosmology, the study of the evolution of the Universe. The current model is the one that currently fits the best with what we observe, but there are some features that are challenging to explain under its framework.


There are other models that have been put forward to address these features. Under one such model, Roger Penrose's conformal cyclic cosmology, in which the Universe goes through endless Big Bang expansion cycles, ring structures are expected – although it's worth noting that conformal cyclic cosmology has significant problems of its own.

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------ Post added on May 14, 2024 at 2:37 AM

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The Big Ring (blue) and Giant Arc (red
------ Post added on May 14, 2024 at 2:37 AM

 

[olu bakka]

up

 

[gamaya80]

The Big Ring is just that, a two-dimensional structure in the shape of a near-perfect ring facing Earth (likely not a coincidence but rather the reason it was discoverable from Earth). Alexia Lopez later discovered that the ring is actually a corkscrew shape. The Giant Arc is just that, the arc of a circle. Interestingly, it is in the same region of space and the same distance as the Big Ring, so the two structures exist at the same time and place. This suggests they may be part of an even bigger structure
What we have in the Big Ring is a possible piece to a very big puzzle. First astronomers will need to confirm that it is a real piece, and not some statistical error, systematic bias in data analysis, or statistical fluke. If it holds up then cosmologists will have to work out what the theoretical implications are, and propose testable alternative hypotheses that would account for this cosmology. And the process of science grinds on

 

[priyade]

That is very strange, that two dimensional Ring is faced towards Earth? Probably aleans are watching us with huge multi array antenna system pointing towards Earth?

 

[imhotep]

Also visit https://www.uclan.ac.uk/news/big-ring-in-the-sky

It is the second ultra-large structure discovered by University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) PhD student Alexia Lopez who, two years ago, also discovered the Giant Arc on the Sky. Remarkably, the Big Ring and the Giant Arc, which is 3.3 billion light-years across, are in the same cosmological neighbourhood – they are seen at the same distance, at the same cosmic time, and are only 12 degrees apart on the sky.

 

[Naughtykolla48]

tfs+