Posted on 08/23/2007 4:56:57 PM PDT by anymouse
The universe has a huge hole in it that dwarfs anything else of its kind. The discovery caught astronomers by surprise.
The hole is nearly a billion light-years across. It is not a black hole, which is a small sphere of densely packed matter. Rather, this one is mostly devoid of stars, gas and other normal matter, and it's also strangely empty of the mysterious "dark matter" that permeates the cosmos. Other space voids have been found before, but nothing on this scale.
Astronomers don't know why the hole is there.
"Not only has no one ever found a void this big, but we never even expected to find one this size," said researcher Lawrence Rudnick of the University of Minnesota.
Rudnick's colleague Liliya R. Williams also had not anticipated this finding.
"What we've found is not normal, based on either observational studies or on computer simulations of the large-scale evolution of the universe," said Williams, also of the University of Minnesota.
The finding will be detailed in the Astrophysical Journal.
The universe is populated with visible stars, gas and dust, but most of the matter in the universe is invisible. Scientists know something is there, because they can measure the gravitational effects of the so-called dark matter. Voids exist, but they are typically relatively small.
The gargantuan hole was found by examining observations made using the Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope, funded by the National Science Foundation.
There is a "remarkable drop in the number of galaxies" in a region of sky in the constellation Eridanus, Rudnick said.
The region had been previously been dubbed the "WMAP Cold Spot," because it stood out in a map of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation made by NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotopy Probe (WMAP) satellite. The CMB is an imprint of radiation left from the Big Bang, the theoretical beginning of the universe.
"Although our surprising results need independent confirmation, the slightly colder temperature of the CMB in this region appears to be caused by a huge hole devoid of nearly all matter roughly 6 to 10 billion light-years from Earth," Rudnick said.
Photons of the CMB gain a small amount of energy when they pass through normal regions of space with matter, the researchers explained. But when the CMB passes through a void, the photons lose energy, making the CMB from that part of the sky appear cooler.
space ping
Sometimes I feel like that when I listen to Hillary speak.
I guess someone has to say it - “nothing to see here.” ;)
Need to build a resturant on the edge of it..
Guess it’s the end of the line.
It’s universal warming!
Bkmrked. Thanks!
Rosie’s mouth?
“Next Gas & Phone 1 Billion Light Years Ahead”
Astronomers don’t know why the hole is there.
Michael Moore’s culo?
The question is, could this be the center of the universe? Or the edge?
Hope no one pulls the “flush” handle.
Democrat intellectual void?
I don’t think there is a center or an edge.
There’s a huge void here on Earth every time John Kerry opens his mouth to speak.
Forgive a possible stupid question but the void between galaxies, was to my understanding, a void. How is this different than the void between galaxies?
So long and thanks for all the fish?
"Wow! What a hole!"
Last time I found a huge hole in my universe, I was quite embarrassed. I believe it was pointed out to me by friends. (A small array of friends, not a very large array, thank goodness.) All I can say is, “watch what you wear”.
Whoa! That’s a void! As in, avoid at all costs.
The article sounds like a conversation between two bacteria on a donut.
Bush’s fault.
I up your massive hole with these two whores, I mean holes.
Yes, it's where the liberals store their brains when not in use (which is essentially 24/7).
I know what it is; another universe about to be born.
Another "Big Bang". Who said there could be only one?
A universe war is a-brewing...
...First there was nothing --- then it exploded!
That's the sequence I've been hearing for years now.
Just saying.
But each universe does have both a center and an edge.
Global Warming????? Bush’s fault.
Oops! Sorry, Everyone. I accidentally hit the re-set button! ;)
Galaxies and solar systems do, the universe is infinite, as as far as anyone knows, so far, there is only one.
cue disturbing music: Ligeti’s Lux Aeterna
LMAO. I surrender to your superior hole hearted effort. I just cant compete with that.
“Astronomers don’t know why the hole is there.”
Every thing else in the universe has an anus. Why not the universe itself? Yeah that is one enormous rectum, but look how much fecal matter this universe has to expel, just from politically correct and liberalism.
Actually, no. The halo surrounding galaxies has been found to extend much farther out from the main core than long thought. Relatively speaking, the density is much much lower than in the galactic body, but it's not a true void.
What they're talking about here is on a much more massive scale entirely. Deep sky surveys have shown that there's structure to galaxies. They clump in groups. And the groups also sort of form clumps that extend in great bands and filaments throughout the known universe (Maybe I should make that the "known" universe).
There have been voids seen between the galactic bands, but what's described here is mind-bogglingly huge. Whole galaxy clusters could disappear within it!
This is fascinating stuff
They finally found the black hole where all my money went.
"No, Mr. Spock. I think you've gone far enough already."
The Hole Story
What would we do without holes?
Ever thought about it?
Moles would be lost souls without holes.
A nose would be nothing without nostrils.
Donuts would be rolls, without holes.
Would cheese be swiss without holes?
Never!
There is no such thing as half a hole.
There is a half a whole.
But, a hole is a whole hole,
no matter the size or shape.
Holes have been condemned by prejudice.
They have been called “the pits”.
Things might be full of holes,
as your might say this essay is.
They leak like a sieve,
but we could not live,
without holes.
by me
How will we keep the chocolate rain from pouring in?
Astronomer finds nothing, gets big grant to keep finding nothing.
the universe is not infinite but rather indefinitely large. Nor are there any actual infinitesimals but rather something indefinitely very small.
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