The largest feature in the universe

Five billion light years across: The largest feature in the universe

Date:

August 4, 2015

Source:

Royal Astronomical Society (RAS)

Summary:

Astronomers have found what appears to be the largest feature in the observable universe: a ring of nine gamma ray bursts -- and hence galaxies - 5 billion light years across.

An image of the distribution of GRBs on the sky at a distance of 7 billion light years, centred on the newly discovered ring. The positions of the GRBs are marked by blue dots and the Milky Way is indicated for reference, running from left to right across the image.

Credit: L. Balazs

A Hungarian-US team of astronomers have found what appears to be the largest feature in the observable universe: a ring of nine gamma ray bursts -- and hence galaxies -- 5 billion light years across. The scientists, led by Prof Lajos Balazs of Kokoly Observatory in Budapest, report their work in a paper in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society./.../