Vast bubble of galaxies discovered

[Kamaji]

Vast bubble of galaxies discovered, given Hawaiian name

Date:  September 5, 2023
Source:  University of Hawaii at Manoa
Summary:  The immense bubble is 820 million light years from Earth and believed to be a fossil-like remnant of the birth of the universe.

A University of Hawaiʻi-led discovery of an immense bubble 820 million light years from Earth is believed to be a fossil-like remnant of the birth of the universe. Astronomer Brent Tully from the UH Institute for Astronomy and his team unexpectedly found the bubble within a web of galaxies. The entity has been given the name Hoʻoleilana, a term drawn from the Kumulipo, a Hawaiian creation chant evoking the origin of structure.

The new findings published in The Astrophysical Journal, mention these massive structures are predicted by the Big Bang theory, as the result of 3D ripples found in the material of the early universe, known as Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO).

"We were not looking for it. It is so huge that it spills to the edges of the sector of the sky that we were analyzing," explained Tully. "As an enhancement in the density of galaxies it is a much stronger feature than expected. The very large diameter of one billion light years is beyond theoretical expectations. If its formation and evolution are in accordance with theory, this BAO is closer than anticipated, implying a high value for the expansion rate of the universe."

Astronomers located the bubble using data from Cosmicflows-4, which is to date, the largest compilation of precise distances to galaxies. Tully co-published the exceptional catalog in fall 2022. His team of researchers believe this may be the first time astronomers identified an individual structure associated with a BAO. The discovery could help bolster scientists' knowledge of the effects of galaxy evolution.

Enormous bubbles of matter

In the well-established Big Bang theory, during the first 400,000 years, the universe is a cauldron of hot plasma similar to the interior of the Sun. Within a plasma, electrons were separated from the atomic nuclei. During this period, regions with slightly higher density began to collapse under gravity, even as the intense bath of radiation attempted to push matter apart. This struggle between gravity and radiation made the plasma oscillate or ripple and spread outward.

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Source:  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230905202510.htm