Extremely massive objects in the Universe turn out to be so huge that they can even distort our view of the cosmos. One of these giant structures turned out to be Quipu, the largest known object in the Universe to date, which was named after the Inca system of writing based on knots. Quipu’s mass reaches an impressive 200 quadrillion solar masses and its length exceeds 400 megaparsecs, equivalent to more than 1.3 billion light-years.
Quipu’s role in cosmic evolution
Such structures play a key role in the formation and evolution of the Universe. A new study published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics explains that studying Quipu will help better understand the evolution of galaxies, refine cosmological models, and improve measurements related to the expansion of the cosmos. The lead author of the paper is Hans Bohringer of the Max Planck Institute.
Quipu and four other discovered structures, such as the CfA2 Great Wall, the Sloan Great Wall, Laniakea, and the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall, contain nearly half of all galaxy clusters, a third of galaxies, and a quarter of the total mass of the Universe, occupying 13% of its volume. They resemble knotted cords in shape, which is why they got their name. These structures were identified using X-ray observations from the CLASSIX (Cosmic Large-Scale Structure in X-rays) project. X-rays that originate in hot intracluster gases have been the key to creating maps of the matter that forms these space giants.
Impact on observations of the Universe
The massiveness of such objects has a large impact on the observations. For example, their gravity alters relic radiation, the cosmic microwave background (CMB) that was left behind after the Big Bang. This effect, known as the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect, causes fluctuations in the CMB that can distort our data about the early Universe. The influence of superstructures also complicates measurements of the Hubble constant, as local gravitational motions caused by their mass can distort the results.
In addition, superstructures can change the image of the sky due to the phenomenon of gravitational lensing. It can create distortions that affect the accuracy of cosmological observations. At the same time, simulations by the Lambda-CDM model, which is the standard model of cosmology, provide for the existence of such structures. This confirms that studying them is critical to testing our theories.
Research Perspectives
Interestingly, such megastructures are not permanent entities. In the future, they will break up into smaller pieces due to gravitational collapse. But now these structures are unique in their properties and impact on the environment, and require detailed study. According to the authors, analyzing Quipu and its environment can shed light on the processes that influence the formation and evolution of galaxies.
This work is just the beginning of a study of the largest structures in the Universe, which, despite their temporality, are of great importance for understanding cosmic evolution.
We previously reported on how the source of the largest magnetic fields in the Universe was discovered.
According to universetoday.com
