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Great Wall (astronomy)
 
 
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The Great Wall (also called Coma Wall), sometimes specifically referred to as the CfA2 Great Wall, is the second largest known super-structure
Large-scale structure of the cosmos

In physical cosmology, the term large-scale structure refers to the characterization of observation distribution s of matter and light on the largest scales ....
 in the Universe
Universe

The universe is defined as everything that physically exists: the entirety of space and time, all forms of matter, energy and momentum, and the physical laws and physical constants that govern them....
 (the largest being the Sloan Great Wall
Sloan Great Wall

The Sloan Great Wall is a giant wall of galaxies, a galactic filament, which is the largest known structure in the Universe. Its discovery was announced on October 20, 2003 by J....
). It is a filament
Galaxy filament

In physical cosmology, filaments are the largest known structures in the universe, thread-like structures with a typical length of 50 to 80 parsec#Megaparsecs_and_gigaparsecss that form the boundaries between large void in the universe....
 of galaxies
Galaxy

A galaxy is a massive, gravitation system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and cosmic dust, and an important but poorly-understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter....
 approximately 200 million light-year
Light-year

A light-year or light year is a Units of measurement of length, equal to just under ten orders_of_magnitude_%28numbers%29#1012 kilometres....
s away and has dimensions which measure over 500 million light-years long, 300 million light-years wide and 15 million light-years thick. It was discovered in 1989 by Margaret Geller
Margaret Geller

Margaret J. Geller is an United States astronomer and professor. She is a Senior Astronomer at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and has written numerous articles and produced several award-winning scientific short films....
 and John Huchra
John Huchra

John Peter Huchra is an United States astronomer and professor. He is the Vice Provost for Research Policy at Harvard University and a Professor of Astronomy at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics....
 based on redshift survey
Redshift survey

In astronomy, a redshift survey, or galaxy survey, is a astronomical surveys of a section of the sky to measure the redshift of astronomical objects....
 data from the CfA Redshift Survey
CfA Redshift Survey

The Center for Astrophysics Redshift Survey was the first attempt to map the large-scale structure of the universe. It began in 1977 with the initial data collection completed in 1982....
.

It is not known how much farther the wall extends due to the plane of the Milky Way
Milky Way

The Milky Way, sometimes called simply the Galaxy, is the galaxy in which the Solar System is located. It is a barred spiral galaxy that is part of the Local Group of galaxies....
 galaxy
Galaxy

A galaxy is a massive, gravitation system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and cosmic dust, and an important but poorly-understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter....
 in which Earth
Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. Earth is the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in diameter, mass and density. It is also referred to as the World and Wiktionary:Terra.Note that by International Astronomical Union convention, the term "Terra" is used for naming extensive land masses, rather...
 is located.






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The Great Wall (also called Coma Wall), sometimes specifically referred to as the CfA2 Great Wall, is the second largest known super-structure
Large-scale structure of the cosmos

In physical cosmology, the term large-scale structure refers to the characterization of observation distribution s of matter and light on the largest scales ....
 in the Universe
Universe

The universe is defined as everything that physically exists: the entirety of space and time, all forms of matter, energy and momentum, and the physical laws and physical constants that govern them....
 (the largest being the Sloan Great Wall
Sloan Great Wall

The Sloan Great Wall is a giant wall of galaxies, a galactic filament, which is the largest known structure in the Universe. Its discovery was announced on October 20, 2003 by J....
). It is a filament
Galaxy filament

In physical cosmology, filaments are the largest known structures in the universe, thread-like structures with a typical length of 50 to 80 parsec#Megaparsecs_and_gigaparsecss that form the boundaries between large void in the universe....
 of galaxies
Galaxy

A galaxy is a massive, gravitation system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and cosmic dust, and an important but poorly-understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter....
 approximately 200 million light-year
Light-year

A light-year or light year is a Units of measurement of length, equal to just under ten orders_of_magnitude_%28numbers%29#1012 kilometres....
s away and has dimensions which measure over 500 million light-years long, 300 million light-years wide and 15 million light-years thick. It was discovered in 1989 by Margaret Geller
Margaret Geller

Margaret J. Geller is an United States astronomer and professor. She is a Senior Astronomer at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and has written numerous articles and produced several award-winning scientific short films....
 and John Huchra
John Huchra

John Peter Huchra is an United States astronomer and professor. He is the Vice Provost for Research Policy at Harvard University and a Professor of Astronomy at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics....
 based on redshift survey
Redshift survey

In astronomy, a redshift survey, or galaxy survey, is a astronomical surveys of a section of the sky to measure the redshift of astronomical objects....
 data from the CfA Redshift Survey
CfA Redshift Survey

The Center for Astrophysics Redshift Survey was the first attempt to map the large-scale structure of the universe. It began in 1977 with the initial data collection completed in 1982....
.

It is not known how much farther the wall extends due to the plane of the Milky Way
Milky Way

The Milky Way, sometimes called simply the Galaxy, is the galaxy in which the Solar System is located. It is a barred spiral galaxy that is part of the Local Group of galaxies....
 galaxy
Galaxy

A galaxy is a massive, gravitation system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and cosmic dust, and an important but poorly-understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter....
 in which Earth
Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. Earth is the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in diameter, mass and density. It is also referred to as the World and Wiktionary:Terra.Note that by International Astronomical Union convention, the term "Terra" is used for naming extensive land masses, rather...
 is located. The gas and dust
Interstellar medium

In astronomy, the interstellar medium is the gas and cosmic dust that pervade interstellar space: the matter that exists between the stars within a galaxy....
 from the Milky Way (known as the zone of avoidance
Zone of Avoidance

The Zone of Avoidance is the area of the night sky that is obscured by our own galaxy, the Milky Way....
) obscures the view of astronomers and have so far made it impossible to determine if the wall ends or continues on further than they can currently observe.

The Standard Model cannot account for such large structures, so in the actual cosmology it is hypothesized that such structures as the Great Wall form along and follow web-like strings of dark matter
Dark matter

In astronomy and physical cosmology, dark matter is Hypothesis matter that is undetectable by its emitted electromagnetic radiation, but whose presence can be inferred from gravity effects on visible matter....
. It is thought that this dark matter dictates the structure of the Universe on the grandest of scales. Dark matter gravitationally attracts baryonic matter, and it is this normal matter that astronomers see forming long, thin walls of super-galactic clusters.

See also

  • WMAP Cold Spot
    WMAP cold spot

    The WMAP Cold Spot or CMB Cold Spot is a region of the sky seen in microwaves which is unusually large and cold relative to the expected properties of the cosmic microwave background radiation ....
  • Large-scale structure of the cosmos
    Large-scale structure of the cosmos

    In physical cosmology, the term large-scale structure refers to the characterization of observation distribution s of matter and light on the largest scales ....