Supervoid Exists, Scientists Confirm
A supervoid exists and it is "the largest individual structure ever found by humanity."
According to Edward Bloomer, a Royal Observatory astronomer in Greenwich who is not involved in the recent research, the confirmation shows that the traditional models of physics is able to explain what was previously known as a cold spot in space, and "exotic, non-standard models" do not have to be invented. He deduced even further and shared with CNN that: "The universe does seem to work the way our model says it does."
Since 2004, numerous scientists have information about the presence of a 'cold spot' in space but are unsure of how to explain it. The cold spot was discovered when scientists were observing a map of radiation left by the Big Bang. Their previous theory was that if the 'Cold Spot' came from the Big Bang itself, it could be a sign of exotic physics that standard cosmology is unable to explain. If, on the other hand, it is due to a foreground structure, it could be that there is a presence of a rare and extremely large-scale structure in the mass distribution of the universe.
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Their previous explanation was: light loses some of its energy in the process of passing through the supervoid, which takes about hundreds of millions of years to pass.
A new study spearheaded by Dr. István Szapudi of the Institute for Astronomy of the University of Hawaii at Manoa was carried out to offer further explanation about this phenomenon. Szapudi says the void could be the largest structure ever discovered by mankind.
An article published in the Monthly Notices of Royal Astronomical Society reads: "Using date from Hawaii's Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) telescope located on Haleakala, Maui and NASA's Wide Field Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite, Szapudi's team discovered a large supervoid, a vast region of 1.8 billion light years-across, in which the density of galaxies is much lower than usual in the known universe."
How is the 'supervoid' formed? If it's a void, how can it be a structure?
A supervoid can still be considered a structur because, as Bloomer would put it, it is comparable to a Grand Canyon – it is a void in a way, but what formed it is still interesting. He also explains that the formation of a supervoid is secondary to the expansion of the universe.
The astronomer, however, was quick to say that the findings are more theoretical than practical. "It's not going to change what you're up to next week or next month." But the great thing about this confirmation is that it fills the gaps in our understanding of physics.
