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November 19, 2013

The Largest Discovered Structure in the Universe Contradicts Big-Bang Theory Cosmology

(Weekend Feature)

"While it is difficult to fathom the scale of this "large quasar group" (LQG), we can say quite definitely it is the largest structure ever

seen in the entire universe," said Dr Clowes of University of Central Lancashire'sJeremiah Horrocks Institute. "This is hugely

exciting not least because it runs counter to our current understanding of the scale of the universe. Even traveling at the speed

of light, it would take 4 billion y ears to cross. This is significant not just because of its size but also because it challenges the

Cosmological Principle, which has been widely accepted since Einstein. Our team has been looking at similar cases which add

further weight to this challenge and we will be continuing to investigate these fascinating phenomena."

This LQG challenges the Cosmological Principle, the assumption that the universe, when v iewed at a sufficiently large scale, looks

the same no matter where y ou are observ ing it from. The modern theory of cosmology is based on the work of Albert Einstein,

and depends on the assumption of the Cosmological Principle. The principle is assumed, but has never been demonstrated

observationally 'bey ond reasonable doubt.'

Quasars are the nuclei of galaxies from the early day s of the universe that undergo brief periods of extremely high brightness that

make them v isible across huge distances. These periods are 'brief' in astrophy sics terms but actually last 10-100 million y ears.

Since 1982 it has been known that quasars tend to group together in clumps or 'structures' of surprisingly large sizes, forming

large quasar groups or LQGs.

To give some sense of scale, our galaxy , the Milky Way , is separated from its nearest neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy , by about

0.7 5 Megaparsecs (Mpc) or 2.5 million light-y ears. Whole clusters of galaxies can be 2-3 Mpc across but LQGs can be 200 Mpc or

more across. Based on the Cosmological Principle and the modern theory of cosmology , calculations suggest that astrophy sicists

should not be able to find a structure larger than 37 0 Mpc. Clowes' newly discovered LQG however has a ty pical dimension of 500

Mpc. But because it is elongated, its longest dimension is 1200 Mpc (or 4 billion light y ears) -

some 1600 times larger than the distance from the Milky Way to Andromeda.

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The colored background of the image above indicates the peaks and troughs in the occurrence of quasars at the distance of the

LQG. Darker colors indicate more quasars, lighter colors indicate fewer quasars. The LQG is clearly seen as a long chain of peaks

indicated by black circles. (The red crosses mark the positions of quasars in a different and smaller LQG). The horizontal and

vertical axes represent right ascension and declination, the celestial equivalent of longitude and latitude. The map covers around

29.4 by 24 degrees on the sky , indicating the huge scale of the newly discovered structure.

The team published their results in the journal Monthly Notices of the Roy al Astronomical Society .

The Daily Galaxy v ia Roy al Astronomical Society

Image Credit: R. G. Clowes / UCLan

Related articles

Posted at 01:19 AM | Permalink

Com m ents

I don't understand why there are still those who think the univ erse is only 1 3 .7 billion y ears old. We can only see that far without

grav itational lensing because dark energy is pushing those objects and ourselv es away from each other faster than the speed of light, their

light will nev er reach us. The most distant galaxies imaged don't appear to be any y ounger than our neighbors.

Edwin Hubble hy pothesized the big bang when he observ ed a red shift in all other galaxies except Andromeda. Today we know this illusion

Like 5.4k

of being at the center of a inflating univ erse is caused by dark energy . In my opinion the univ erse is more likely to be infinite in time and

space than to be y oung and if not the univ erse than certainly the multiv erse.

Posted by : Logan | Nov ember 1 7 , 201 3 at 1 0:1 9 AM

Logan, I agree. The univ erse is v ery , v ery old and v ery , v ery large. This story is just another nail in the coffin of the BB theory .

Posted by : Dr. Paul Cook | Nov ember 1 7 , 201 3 at 1 0:41 AM

Guy s, it is not that easy to get rid of a 'big bang - kind' perception. The 'big bang' alway s was sounding non-elegant to me too, because it was

putting a point - zero in times infinite axis. But many facts lead to it unfortunately : Hubble's constant, particles properties and

supersy metry , fundamental forces behav ior, entropy , all these are somehow tracing backwards into a common origin if we still want to

believ e in cause and effect principles...

Posted by : Theodor Samoladas | Nov ember 1 7 , 201 3 at 02:1 0 PM

You hav e not seen any thing y et, wait in 3 , 5 ,8 y ears and we will learned of ev en larger structures. The sponge we exist in is so large......

Posted by : Knize1 0 | Nov ember 1 7 , 201 3 at 02:25 PM

I think if Einstein had liv ed in today 's world, he would hav e rev ised his theories radically . Considering all the strange observ ations and

contradictions to his model. The time he liv ed in just simply did not hav e the technology av ailable for him to make a more complete

hy pothesis.

Posted by : Matthew | Nov ember 1 7 , 201 3 at 02:54 PM

The same way Fermi could only for his opinion based on mid 20th century technology . I think if Fermi could see how much of the univ erse

is set up for life to propagate. His theories would also be wildly different.

Posted by : Matthew | Nov ember 1 7 , 201 3 at 02:56 PM

Umm Logan, I think y ou misunderstand how astronomy gets to the age of the univ erse. Certainly there are galaxies further than lets say

1 4 billion y ears away from earth...but that doesnt mean the univ erse is older than 1 4 billion y ears. We just can only see 1 4 billion light

y ears of radius of that univ erse. Giv en a certain dark energy factor, the Univ erse is thought to be well ov er 7 0 billion light y ears in size...

Also, grav itational lensing is used to look through Dark MATTER, it has absolutely nothing to do with dark energy . The Age comes from

heat loss equations and the measured "temp" of the univ erse at certain stages (now, cosmic microwav e background) and particle phy sics.

Posted by : DDub | Nov ember 1 7 , 201 3 at 03:28 PM

"I think if Einstein had liv ed in today 's world, he would hav e rev ised his theories radically . Considering all the strange observ ations and

contradictions to his model. The time he liv ed in just simply did not hav e the technology av ailable for him to make a more complete

hy pothesis."

Things might be a LOT different had he simply known about the real, massiv e particle potential of the quantum v acuum:

http://www.lns.cornell.edu/spr/2005-06/msg00697 55.html

Posted by : Rick | Nov ember 1 7 , 201 3 at 03:34 PM

Logan - I don't think dark mater is pushing any thing.

It does not interact actually with any kind of mater, neither it does project any kind of grav itational distortion.

It does actually looks like try ing to "Copy " the shape of the most object.

Posted by : Yordan | Nov ember 1 7 , 201 3 at 04:51 PM

I wonder if someone ev er asked himself the simply question:

- How does it will looks like if another dimension is try ing to interact/break in our dimension ?

- How does the other dimension "particles" will looks like and act in our dimension ?

Posted by : Yordan | Nov ember 1 7 , 201 3 at 05:23 PM

Okay , here it is folks...

When any one talks about the age of the univ erse, it`s the time from the big bang till now.

The univ erse is older and larger than the human mind can ev en fathom the size or age.

The univ erse alway s was, is and shall be.

Scientist, astronomists, ev en Neil DeGrasse Ty son, when they speak of the Univ erse, it`s really the known Univ erse they `re referring to.

You see, we hav e no way of knowing for sure how large and how old the univ erse is. Only our small corner of it since the big bang.

Ground based telescopes can only see back about 6 billion y ears.

The Hubble deep field can only see 1 .5 billion y ears.

The Hubble Ultra deep field, within 800 million y ears after the big bang.

Hubble Ultra Deep Field IR? 480 million.

The JST? When it`s in operation, 280 million y ears after the big bang.

What happens when we create a spaced based telescope that can see past 1 3 .7 billion y ears, past the amount of time since the big bang.

What then?

Posted by : Frank A Tankerton | Nov ember 1 7 , 201 3 at 07 :33 PM

We do hav e the belief that ours is the only univ erse that exist or ev er has existed. We think that our univ erse will expand into the infinite,

as we believ e that the birth of this univ erse is the beginning of time. What would happen if there were infinite number of univ erses and

like all matter that exist clump together like cream of wheat (or grav y ). That our univ erse is part of a larger cluster of univ erses that we

may be considered a rogue univ erse (a dwarf univ erse). What would happen if the quasars that we are observ ing near the big bang lies

outside our univ erse and is much larger than ours. We are still like those who say the world is flat, and Earth is the center of the univ erse;

or those who believ e in multi-v erses (an endless replication of ourselv es with minor v ariations on the self).

Posted by : kristi27 6 | Nov ember 1 7 , 201 3 at 1 0:34 PM

The univ erse is larger and older than the human mind can imagine?

Is the univ erse older that 600 trillion y ears? Fourteen billion y ears seems like a long time, but is it like seeing some one who is just a

teenager, as compared to someone who is in a mid-life crisis of fifty or sixty y ears old (50 or 60 billion y ears). As compared to old age at

eighty (billion) y ears old? As far as how large the univ erse is; it does not go into the infinite.

Space is infinite but the univ erse is finite, so the number of univ erse is infinite.

Posted by : kristi27 6 | Nov ember 1 7 , 201 3 at 1 0:43 PM

BACK TO THE STEADY STATE THEORIES

After all it seems that the ideas of Fred Hoy le and the Steady State Theory in general are more correct than the strange Big Bang.

Ev ery where we look, we can observ e all kinds of formativ e cy cles and recy cling composed by small rotating atoms with orbiting elektrons

which images ev en the largest structures in cosmos. Ev ery thing we can observ e tells of an eternal formativ e changes of assembling and

dissolv ing gaseous and particle matters.

Ev en our ancestors states this in their many cultural Stories of Creation where the my tho-cosmological term, "The Primordial Waters",

resembles the "eternal hy drogenic watery ocean" in the Univ erse, scientifically described as The Cosmic Microwav e Background and its

fluctuating radiation in where ev ery thing is created and recreated ov er and ov er again.

- Ev en that many stories of creation begins with "a beginning" this is just a telling technique in order to explain the basical principles of

creation by the basic 4 elements and their complementary qualities unfolding in the 5.th "element" of space.

Modern cosmological science has gone completely astray because of a the linear world v iew where all ev idences shows a cy clic univ erse

from atoms to superclusters of galaxies with a mutual location of orbit.

Iv ar Nielsen

Natural Philosopher

Posted by : Iv ar Nielsen | Nov ember 1 8, 201 3 at 02:38 AM

To be accepted one theory , it must be reconciled with the actual conditions of the nature. The proposal, of the theory of big bang, was made

according to the condition that the theory would answer to some questions, that not been answered with the actual data.

I will not refer to these questions, because it will take too much space to describe them and because I feel that many of these questions are

familiar to all of us,

Because of the theory is not able to answer to any of these questions it tries to incorporate these questions as realities of nature. As a result,

instead of prov iding answers we hav e new questions these to be increased. So, we reached to the point of looking for, dark matter, dark

energy , black holes, initial conditions that do not obey the laws of nature, etc., without being able to determine something about these

concepts.

The bad thing of this case is the fact that the incumbent perceptions cannot fit any thing other than the perceptions of the theory of big

bang. So are discarded theories which describe the creation much better than the theory of big bang.

For example, the theory of Pointal charges, described in chapters six and sev en of the book, From the inside of quarks and up to bey ond

the Univ erse.

Posted by : Vaggelis Talios | Nov ember 1 8, 201 3 at 06:29 AM

I lov e how many comments there are here of people say ing "no the univ erse is like THIS!" Ev ery single scientist who actually has relev ant

knowledge on the subject of cosmology speaks v ery carefully about it. We're obv iously learning a lot about our univ erse and most of it is

still confusing. Especially to those of us who get our knowledge from pop-science websites and magazines. Let's just all agree that we don't

know y et, shall we?

Posted by : Mike | Nov ember 1 8, 201 3 at 1 2:24 PM

Howev er I suggest the picture of a Cosmos composed of many Univ erses and many Parallel-univ erses that continuity , ev olv es and grows.

This Cosmos is surrounded by an empty space which extends to infinity . I believ e that this picture of Cosmos is v ery close to the reality .

Posted by : Vaggelis Talios | Nov ember 1 8, 201 3 at 01 :02 PM

@ Vaggelis Talios,

There is no such thing as "empty space". Read these links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_medium

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_space#Env ironment

Posted by : Iv ar Nielsen | Nov ember 1 8, 201 3 at 02:1 1 PM

This is the best comment thread I'v e ev er seen on this site.

Posted by : JB | Nov ember 1 8, 201 3 at 02:27 PM

To understanding to the univ erse is the same to understand one's self. First y ou must env ision y our mind as to be infinite in that we can

takes the imagination to no limits. Also y ou must, env ision a univ erse that cannot, be measured or weighed by things that we cannot

imagine. It is a cosmological parody of ones desire to be infinite or one with the univ erse.

Posted by : Vespucci Helios | Nov ember 1 8, 201 3 at 02:59 PM

@Iv ar Nielsen. A clarification. You are absolutely right. Between galaxies and v arious celestial bodies, there is the Interstellar. May be I

should clarify that with the phrase empty space, did not mean the v oid between the galaxies or the v oid between the v arious celestial

bodies, but I meant the v oid that extend bey ond the boundaries of the Univ erses and Parallel-univ erses. Indeed in the analy tical works I do

not use the term empty space, but the term absolutely empty space. The rest, I believ e and hope that one day we will hav e the

opportunity to discuss.

Posted by : Vaggelis Talios | Nov ember 1 8, 201 3 at 04:1 5 PM

One problem I hav e with the theory of an expanding univ erse is that to ov ercome the fact we appear to be at the center of it, it was argued,

based on the theory of relativ ity , that space itself is expanding, y et it is still assumed these other galaxies are mov ing away from us in

distances measured by the speed of light. In other words, it is assumed that as they mov e away , it will take light longer to trav erse the

distance. That is not relativ istic, since the speed of light does not remain constant to this expanded space. For that to be, the speed of light

should increase, proportional to the expanded space, otherwise this space is being denominated in lighty ears and the expansion is the

numerator, which means it is increased distance, not expanding space. Remember, 'space is what y ou measure with a ruler' and the ruler

is set by C. Say ing it's all four dimensional and we just can't v isualize it in our three dimensional space, ignores the fact that the space

between two points is only one dimension. Say ing the light is just being 'carried along' by this expansion doesn't make any sense either,

since it is still being denominated in lighty ears, which are not expanding. It would be like say ing that if y ou put a ruler in y our car and

driv e down the road, it stretches space.

Now, we are at the center of our optical perception of the univ erse and so if redshift is an optical effect, this situation would be quite logical.

Not to mention that as an optical effect, it would compound on itself, creating a parabolic curv e of increasing redshift and this would

explain the shifting pattern we observ ed about halfway to the horizon line of what's v isible, currently being explained as an effect of dark

energy .

That cosmic background radiation from the edge of the v isible horizon, would be the light of ev en further sources, shifted completely off

the v isible spectrum. Thus the answer to Olber's paradox.

Posted by : John Merry man | Nov ember 1 8, 201 3 at 04:33 PM

scientists claim they hav e figured out that there is an infinite amount of univ erses. http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/1 96001 /big-

bang-breakthrough-indicates-infinite-number-of-univ erses-exist/

Posted by : mike | Nov ember 1 8, 201 3 at 1 0:26 PM

Quasars - it could not long and not super-massiv e objects. It's simple - the lights of ships of the galactic fleet, which incidentally is fly ing in

our direction. The Doppler effect is offset by the relativ istic time dilation of oscillators, so we see a red shift of the spectrum instead of the

ultra-v iolet.

Posted by : Leo Polishchuk | Nov ember 1 9, 201 3 at 1 2:31 AM

@ John Merry man,

Of course we are not at the centre of the Univ erse. The observ atons just shows what is found in the measurable part of it, as y ou wrote.

Many people hav e problems with an expanding univ erse and it all goes bananas when scientist states that it ev en is accelerating and of

course another dark magic (dark energy ) is needed in order to patch this unscientifically idea which directly contradicts the Big Bang

idea.

Read about the redshift anomalies here: http://electric-cosmos.org/arp.htm

@ Vaggelis Talios

Thanks for the reply . You wrote:

"I meant the v oid that extend bey ond the boundaries of the Univ erses and Parallel-univ erses".

AD: In my opinion there is just THE Univ erse and it has no boundaries.

Regards Iv ar

Posted by : Iv ar Nielsen | Nov ember 1 9, 201 3 at 01 :04 AM

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