Three minutes to talk about popular science
We might think that the universe is full of galaxies, galaxies are full of stars, and stars are full of planets. But it doesn't correspond to the real situation. In fact, there are many holes in the universe, these are regions with no galaxies or few galaxies, and they can reach hundreds of millions of light-years in diameter!
For example, the Poe Void, which has a staggering diameter of 1.3 billion light-years, has hardly a galaxy insideIt's like a cage in the universe, keeping matter and energy out of it.
How was this hole discovered?How did it come to be?What is its special nature and significance?
We often think that the universe is full of stars and galaxies, just like the night sky we see, dense and radiant. However, this is actually an illusion because we can only see a small part of the universe, and our eyes and telescopes have limitations to see all the matter and energy in the universe.
Scientists have found that there are many holes in the universe, which are similar to black holes, and their diameters even reach billions of light-years. So, how do these hollows form?Are they anomalies in the universe, or are there some kind of laws and causes?To answer these questions, we need to understand the evolution and structure of the universe.
The universe began with a big ** 13.8 billion years ago, when all the matter and energy in the universe was concentrated in a very small point, and then suddenly**, expanding in all directions.
In the process of expansion, the matter and energy in the universe are constantly cooled and condensed, forming atoms, molecules, gases, dust, stars, planets, galaxies, and so on. However, this process is not completely homogeneous, with some places having a higher density of matter and some places having a lower density of matter, which leads to inhomogeneity in the universe.
The inhomogeneity in the universe is affected by two forces, one is gravity and the other is dark energy. Gravity is an attractive force that brings matter closer to each other, forming larger structures, such as galaxies and clusters of galaxies.
Dark energy is a repulsive force that causes the universe to expand at an accelerated pace, forming larger spaces, such as voids and supervoids. The game of these two forces has created the complexity and diversity of the universe.
Voids in the universe are those areas where the density of matter is low and dark energy is predominant, and they are the result of the expansion of the universe and are part of the structure of the universe.
They are not really nothing, but places where matter and energy are scarcer, cooler, and less galaxies relative to other places, reflecting the inhomogeneity and dynamism of the universe, and these hollows are irregularly shaped, some like sphericals, some like ellipsoids, and some like tubes, which are also a beautiful and mysterious phenomenon of the universe.
These holes vary in size, from a few hundred light-years to hundreds of millions or even billions of light-years. The number of these holes is also significant, and it is estimated that there are at least 1,000 holes in the observable universe, and more may be discovered as observation technology advances.
How was the void in the universe discovered?The earliest hole was discovered in 1978 by American astronomer Robert Kirchner and his colleagues while observing a galaxy in the southern skyA diameter of about 2A 500 million light-year hole with only 60 galaxies inside and 3,000 galaxies in the surrounding area.
They named the void the Cavity of the Constellation Pasture and published it in 1981, which attracted the attention of the astronomical community. Later, as more holes were discovered, people began to realize that holes in the universe were not isolated phenomena, but a universal structure.
What are the characteristics of the void in the universe?Their interior is very empty, with almost no matter, not even dark matter. If we were standing in the center of a hollow, we could barely see any stars, only darkness. Second, their edges are very blurred, with no clear boundaries, but rather a gradual transition to the surrounding region of galaxies.
The edges of these voids are also not static, but constantly expanding as the universe expands. Thirdly, they are not evenly distributed, but rather present a fractal pattern, i.e., there are holes in holes, holes in holes, and so on. This fractal structure makes the universe look like a sponge or cheese, and the void is the hole in it.
There are many voids in the universe, some are small, some are big, some are very close, some are far away. But there is one void that stands out in particular, and that isThe wave is hollow。With a staggering diameter of 1.3 billion light-years and hardly a galaxy inside, it's like a cage in the universe, keeping all matter and energy out.
The hole was discovered in 2004 by astronomers at the University of Minnesota in the United States by observing the temperature distribution of cosmic microwave background radiation. Cosmic microwave background radiation, abbreviated as CMB, is the oldest electromagnetic radiation left after the universe is large, and it fills the entire universe.
In the temperature distribution map of the CMB, we can see some bright and dark spots, which reflect the inhomogeneity in the universe, that is, the distribution of matter and energy. Bright spots indicate places where the temperature is higher, the density of matter is higher, and there are more galaxies, and dark spots indicate places where the temperature is lower, the density of matter is lower, and there are fewer galaxies.
Among these spots, there is a particularly large dark spot, which is the Poe cavity, which is located in the direction of the Poe Constellation, about 8 billion light-years away from us, and its temperature is about 140 microkelvins lower than the surrounding area, which is a very significant difference.
The discovery of the hole in the Poe constellation has attracted great attention from the astronomical community, because its size and temperature difference are beyond the standard cosmic model, it is an anomalous existence, and it is also a mysterious existence.
The existence of the hollowness of the Bojiang Seat has brought us a lot of confusion and questions, is it an accidental phenomenon, or is there some inevitable reason?To answer these questions, scientists have come up with a number of possible explanations and hypotheses.
One possible explanation is the one we mentioned above, due to the uneven distribution of dark matter in the universe.
Dark matter is a substance that we don't know what the body is, it occupies most of the matter in the universe, but it does not emit light, does not reflect light, does not absorb light, and can only perceive its existence through gravity. The distribution of dark matter affects the distribution of matter and energy in the universe, as well as the structure and evolution of the universe.
Imagination of the Earth surrounded by dark matter packages).
If there are places in the universe where the density of dark matter is particularly low, then these places will form holes, because there is not enough gravity to attract ordinary matter and energy, and there are not enough conditions for galaxies to form. The wave is hollowIt could be a place where it's a gap in dark matter, and it's also a gap in ordinary matter and energy.
Another possible explanation is that the Poe Void is due to the action of dark energy in the universe. Dark energy is an energy that we don't yet know what it is, it takes up most of the energy in the universe, but it doesn't have positive pressure and density like ordinary energy, but negative pressure and density. The action of dark energy affects the changes in space and time in the universe, as well as the structure and evolution of the universe.
If there are places in the universe where the density of dark energy is particularly high, then these places will form superholes, because there is too much repulsion to push away ordinary matter and energy, and there are not enough conditions for the formation of galaxies. The Hollow of the Po River may be such a place, it is a highland of dark energy, but also a lowland of ordinary matter and energy.
There is also a possible explanation that the Poe void is caused by some unknown physical process in the universe. There are many physical phenomena in the universe that we have not fully understood, and there are many physical theories that we have not yet fully confirmed, and perhaps in some places in the universe, there are some special conditions that trigger some special effects that lead to the creation of these voids.
The Bojiangzuo Hollow may be such a place, it may be a physical singularity, but also a physical opportunity. It may be related to some physical phenomena that we don't know yetFor example, multidimensional space, wormholes, parallel universes, quantum fluctuations, and so on. Just like the movie "Interstellar".
It may be related to some physical theories that we are not sure about, such as string theory, supersymmetry theory, dark fluid theory, and so on. It may provide us with some new clues and windows into a better understanding and exploration of the nature and mysteries of the universe.
It is a challenge and opportunity, it is a mystery and a miracle, it is a beautiful and mysterious phenomenon, and it is a subject worthy of our continued exploration and research.