Japanese astronomers have recently discovered a colossal cosmic structure shaped like a teardrop, spanning 200 million light-years and comprising galaxies and the largest gas bubbles ever observed in the universe.
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| Image of the newly discovered “Lyman Alpha” droplets (Photo: TTO) |
These galaxies and gas bubbles, referred to as “Lyman Alpha droplets,” are aligned along three cosmic curves and were formed 2 billion years after the Big Bang.
This newly discovered structure was identified using the Subaru and Keck telescopes located on Mauna Kea. The galaxies within this structure are grouped together at a density four times greater than the average distance between other galaxies in the universe.
Some of these gas bubbles are as wide as 400,000 light-years, nearly twice the diameter of our neighboring Andromeda galaxy. Scientists believe they formed when massive stars ignited in the universe, causing explosions akin to supernovae that propelled gas into the surrounding space.
Another hypothesis suggests that these gas bubbles are enormous gas envelopes that could eventually give rise to new galaxies.
This discovery will provide researchers with new insights into cosmic structures and “may predict the existence of even larger structures composed of multiple galaxies” that could be present in the universe, according to researcher Ryosuke Yamauchi from Tohoku University.
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