The Large Quasar Group isn't just a psychedelic cover band, but also an enormous cluster of quasars forming what an international team of astronomers led by University of Central Lancashire are calling "the largest known structure in the universe." When the name isn't being reappropriated for British laser tag, its being used to describe the distant (and therefore aged) nuclei of galaxies which often group together in clusters; this cluster just happens to also be the largest such structure ever discovered, making it the de facto largest in the known universe. Resultantly, it also may challenge an Einstein-derived supposition that, "the universe, when viewed at a sufficiently large scale, looks the same no matter where you are observing it from." Of course, you'd have to be incredibly huge to determine conclusively whether or not that's the case, but that Einstein guy was pretty good at making educated guesses.
[Photo credit: M. Kornmesser, ESO]
Filed under: Science, Alt
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Via: HuffPo UK
Source: Royal Astronomical Society
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