Astronomers Find a Hole in the Universe

[Vallikat]

Interesting...

Astronomers Find a Hole in the Universe
By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer
4 hours ago

WASHINGTON - Astronomers have stumbled upon a tremendous hole in the universe. That's got them scratching their heads about what's just not there. The cosmic blank spot has no stray stars, no galaxies, no sucking black holes, not even mysterious dark matter. It is 1 billion light years across of nothing. That's an expanse of nearly 6 billion trillion miles of emptiness, a University of Minnesota team announced Thursday.

Astronomers have known for many years that there are patches in the universe where nobody's home. In fact, one such place is practically a neighbor, a mere 2 million light years away. But what the Minnesota team discovered, using two different types of astronomical observations, is a void that's far bigger than scientists ever imagined.

"This is 1,000 times the volume of what we sort of expected to see in terms of a typical void," said Minnesota astronomy professor Lawrence Rudnick, author of the paper that will be published in Astrophysical Journal. "It's not clear that we have the right word yet ... This is too much of a surprise."

Rudnick was examining a sky survey from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which essentially takes radio pictures of a broad expanse of the universe. But one area of the universe had radio pictures indicating there was up to 45 percent less matter in that region, Rudnick said.

The rest of the matter in the radio pictures can be explained as stars and other cosmic structures between here and the void, which is about 5 to 10 billion light years away.

Rudnick then checked observations of cosmic microwave background radiation and found a cold spot. The only explanation, Rudnick said, is it's empty of matter.

It could also be a statistical freak of nature, but that's probably less likely than a giant void, said James Condon, an astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. He wasn't part of Rudnick's team but is following up on the research.

"It looks like something to be taken seriously," said Brent Tully, a University of Hawaii astronomer who wasn't part of this research but studies the void closer to Earth.

Tully said astronomers may eventually find a few cosmic structures in the void, but it would still be nearly empty.

Holes in the universe probably occur when the gravity from areas with bigger mass pull matter from less dense areas, Tully said. After 13 billion years "they are losing out in the battle to where there are larger concentrations of matter," he said.

Retired NASA astronomer Steve Maran said of the discovery: "This is incredibly important for something where there is nothing to it."

[Gridfan]

A giant hole in the universe? *drools* I want to go there. *shakes his tentacles*

The really ironic thing here though is that, although the scientists are surprised about this discovery, I'm not.
When I read this my thought was...: Odd they haven't discovered this earlier
What I do share the surprise about though is what could have done that.

Did larger bodies of mass around pull stuff away (initial thought would be several black holes around that area),
or did something explode there pushing stuff away.
Or did something suck out all matter and then stop? (temporal giant black hole?)

*pokes Otori* What are your theories?

EDIT:
Also, why isn't it filling up again?
And, is it possible that area contains abnormal amounts of dark matter instead of a "void" as the scientists seems to think?

[Traanse]

Retired NASA astronomer Steve Maran said of the discovery: "This is incredibly important for something where there is nothing to it."

Hah! I like this statement. It so closely mimics my own response.

[Otori]

Without seeing the actual results of the study, my first instinct tells me it's what it appears to be, an area devoid of anything. In the grand structure of the known universe things tend to "clump".



This isn't the greatest pic, but you get the idea that things are almost in strands. I believe it's plausible to imagine a good sized area to be devoid of anything. It appears that a radio frequency is the only wavelength that's been used to image the area (except for the checking the CBR, which is usually the next thing you check), so I'm sure many more wavelengths will be used before any conclusion can be posed. We'll see.

[Firia]

My theory?
It's not a void. It's actually the largest Mass-formation ever discovered, and it's silhouetted by a Sun or something emitting light, so it just appears to be a Void.

Or maybe space invaders are coming, and they really are destroying everything in their path. Like... EVERYthing!

Whenever you need someone to throw a monkey into your wrench, the Pirate Queen is here for you.

[Kyrros]

My theory: Von Neumann machines ate it all.

[Myz_Lilith]

All the univrse is but a giant pool game.

They just discovered the corner pocket...

[Tastyvixen]

All the univrse is but a giant pool game.

They just discovered the corner pocket...

haha, sounds like a good explanation to me

[Tarryk]

I tend to agree with Otori. While it's definitely amazing, at the same time it's something that should practically be expected. In the wide expanse of our universe, one in which the clumping of matter just happens, there are always going to be anomalies where the clumping causes odd-looking gaps in space. Look long enough and close enough, and you'll inevitably find a really big gap that looks out of place, yet is just coincidental in nature. Could be the result of any number of an infinite set of possibilities that led to that "hole", just from the way the mass around it moved naturally.

[GruzzyFunt]

My theory, is that its the largest covenant/alien invasion ever. They are travelling in slipspace, which is in a different dimension than our own. But their technology is so advanced, their slipstream engines can pinpointly jump to anywhere in the universe, and far far less time than normal thruster burn. It is much more advanced than our own Shaw-Fujika Translight engine we build in about 30+ years. But, it is such an invasion, that all the ships, when clustered together, cast a sihlouette on the other ships, which are already invisible as per not being in our dimension. The conclusion: Massive void, that will disappear, and house thousands of covenant vessels, ready to glass earth.


Oh, and for anybody who has read the Halo books, and understood some of that, congratulations to you

[Lykeios]

News just in a similar expanse has been found... In George Bush's head...

[Firia]

Look long enough and close enough, and you'll inevitably find a really big gap that looks out of place, yet is just coincidental in nature.

Are you saying Space is balding?!

News just in a similar expanse has been found... In George Bush's head...

Are you saying Bushs' brain is bald!