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Largest Object in the Universe Discovered

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the that's-a-big-twinkie dept.

prostoalex writes "Quick, think of the largest object you can imagine. Whatever your imagination delivered it probably wasn't an 'enormous amoeba-like structure 200 light-years wide and made up of galaxies and large bubbles of gas,' a newly found object, as USA Today reports."

6 of 274 comments (clear)

  1. That's 200 Million, not 200 Light Years by nincehelser · · Score: 5, Informative

    But what's a few orders of magnitude among friends?

    1. Re:That's 200 Million, not 200 Light Years by B'Trey · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Playing sort of fast and loose with the definition of "object," aren't they? I generally think of an object as a single item, not a collective. If this is an "object," then why isn't the universe itself an object? And if the universe is an object, then it's necessarily larger than this one.

      --

      "The legitimate powers of government extend only to such acts as are injurious to others." Thomas Jefferson.

  2. Submission is wrong by nefele · · Score: 5, Informative

    First of all, the structure is 200 million light years across. The distance from the Sun to the center of our Galaxy is about 26,000 light years, so 200 light years would not be very impressive in comparison.

    Also, the article is somewhat misleading itself, as the blob isn't really a homogenous structure. It's just a group of galaxies packed together more closely than other clusters. So it isn't really that much different from other parts of the Universe.

  3. We're doomed by lysergic.acid · · Score: 5, Funny
    They're here already...
    The filaments were recently seen using the Subaru and Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea.
    Atleast they seem more interested in using our high-powered telescopes than enslaving mankind.
  4. Size 42 by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The largest object that I can imagine quickly is the Universe . It's taking longer to imagine the Multiverse as a single object, but it's even more fun.

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  5. An enormous amoeba-like structure... by ptelligence · · Score: 5, Funny

    Stuck to the lens of the telescope.