This is a list of the largest cosmic structures so far discovered. The unit of measurement used is the light-year (distance traveled by light in one Julian year; approximately 9.46 trillion kilometres).
This list includes superclusters, galaxy filaments and large quasar groups (LQGs). The structures are listed based on their longest dimension.
This list refers only to coupling of matter with defined limits, and not the coupling of matter in general (such as, for example, the cosmic microwave background, which fills the entire universe). All structures in this list are defined as to whether their presiding limits have been identified.
There are some reasons to be cautious about this list:
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| Structure name (year discovered) | Maximum dimension (in light-years) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall (2014)[1] | 9,700,000,000–10,000,000,000[2] [3] [4] | Discovered through gamma-ray burst mapping. Existence as a structure is disputed.[5] [6] [7] |
| Giant GRB Ring (2015)[8] | 5,600,000,000 | Discovered through gamma-ray burst mapping. Largest-known regular formation in the observable universe. |
| Huge-LQG (2012–2013) | 4,000,000,000[9] [10] [11] | Decoupling of 73 quasars. Largest-known large quasar group and the first structure found to exceed 3 billion light-years. |
| "The Giant Arc" (2021) | 3,300,000,000[12] | Located 9.2 billion light years away. |
| U1.11 LQG (2011) | 2,500,000,000 | Involves 38 quasars. Adjacent to the Clowes-Campusano LQG. |
| Clowes–Campusano LQG (1991) | 2,000,000,000 | Grouping of 34 quasars. Discovered by Roger Clowes and Luis Campusano. |
| Sloan Great Wall (2003) | 1,380,000,000 | Discovered through the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. |
| South Pole Wall (2020) | 1,370,000,000[13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] | The largest contiguous feature in the local volume and comparable to the Sloan Great Wall (see above) at half the distance. It is located at the celestial South Pole. |
| King Ghidorah Supercluster (2022) | 1,300,000,000 | Consists of at least 15 clusters plus other interconnected filaments. It is the most massive galaxy supercluster discovered so far.[19] |
| Big Ring (2024) | 1,300,000,000 | Made up of galaxy clusters. |
| (Theoretical limit) | 1,200,000,000 | Structures larger than this size are incompatible with the cosmological principle according to all estimates. However, whether the existence of these structures itself constitutes a refutation of the cosmological principle is still unclear.[20] |
| Ho'oleilana Bubble (2023) | 1,000,000,000 | Contains about 56,000 galaxies, located 820 million light years away. |
| BOSS Great Wall (BGW) (2016) | 1,000,000,000 | Structure consisting of 4 superclusters of galaxies. The mass and volume exceeds the amount of the Sloan Great Wall.[21] |
| Perseus–Pegasus Filament (1985) | 1,000,000,000 | This galaxy filament contains the Perseus–Pisces Supercluster. |
| Pisces–Cetus Supercluster Complex (1987) | 1,000,000,000 | Contains the Milky Way, and is the first galaxy filament to be discovered. (The first LQG was found earlier in 1982.) A new report in 2014 confirms the Milky Way as a member of the Laniakea Supercluster. |
| CfA2 Great Wall (1989) | 750,000,000 | Also known as the Coma Wall. |
| 652,000,000[22] | The Saraswati Supercluster consists of 43 massive galaxy clusters, which include Abell 2361 and ZWCl 2341.1+0000. | |
| Boötes Supercluster | 620,000,000 | |
| Horologium-Reticulum Supercluster (2005) | 550,000,000 | Also known as the Horologium Supercluster. |
| Laniakea Supercluster (2014) | 520,000,000 | Galaxy supercluster in which Earth is located. |
| 500,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash.[23] | |
| Hyperion proto-supercluster (2018) | 489,000,000 | The largest and earliest known proto– supercluster. |
| 480,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash. | |
| Newman LQG (U1.54) | 450,000,000 | Discovered Peter R Newman[24] et al. |
| 430,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash. | |
| 420,000,000 | ||
| 400,000,000 | First identified by Harlow Shapley as a cloud of galaxies in 1930, it was not identified as a structure until 1989. | |
| 390,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash. | |
| U1.90 | 380,000,000 | |
| Lynx–Ursa Major Filament (LUM Filament) | 370,000,000 | |
| 370,000,000 | Also known as the Southern Great Wall. | |
| Einasto Supercluster | 360,000,000 | [25] |
| 350,000,000 | ||
| 350,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash. | |
| z=2.38 filament around protocluster ClG J2143-4423 | 330,000,000 | |
| 320,000,000 | First LQG (Large Quasar Group) discovered.[26] [27] | |
| 310,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash. | |
| 280,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash. | |
| 260,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash. | |
| 250,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash. | |
| 228,314,341 | One of the most distant known superclusters. | |
| 200,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash. | |
| 200,000,000 | Giant collection of Lyman-alpha blobs. | |
| Ursa Major Supercluster | 200,000,000 | |
| 180,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash. | |
| 110,000,000 | A part of the Laniakea Supercluster (see above). It also contains the Milky Way Galaxy, which contains the Solar System where Earth orbits the Sun. Listed here for reference. | |
See also: List of voids. Voids are immense spaces between galaxy filaments and other large-scale structures. Technically they are not structures. They are vast spaces which contain very few or no galaxies. They are theorized to be caused by quantum fluctuations during the early formation of the universe.
A list of the largest voids so far discovered is below. Each is ranked according to its longest dimension.
| Maximum dimension (in light-years) | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| LOWZ North 13788 void | 2,953,000,000 | One of largest known voids, containing 109,066 known galaxies.[28] | |
| 2,000,000,000 | Proposed void containing the Milky Way galaxy and Local Group as an explanation for the discrepancy in the Hubble constant. Existence is still disputed.[29] [30] | ||
| LOWZ North 4739 void | 1,846,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ North 16634 void | 1,671,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ North 11627 void | 1,663,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ South 4653 void | 1,610,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ North 13222 void | 1,515,000,000 | ||
| 1,300,000,000 | Also known as Canes Venatici Supervoid | ||
| LOWZ North 14348 void | 1,277,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ South 5589 void | 1,110,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ North 13721 void | 1,095,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ North 11918 void | 998,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ North 5692 void | 984,000,000 | ||
| Bahcall & Soneiro 1982 void | 978,000,000 | This suspected void ranged 100 degrees across the sky, and has shown up on other surveys as several separate voids.[31] | |
| LOWZ North 11446 void | 944,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ North 15734 void | 938,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ North 16394 void | 934,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ North 8541 void | 917,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ South 4775 void | 899,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ North 12092 void | 891,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ North 3294 void | 887,000,000 | ||
| Tully-11 void | 880,000,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully | |
| CMASS South 7225 void | 865,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ North 14775 void | 848,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ South 6334 void | 846,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ North 10254 void | 843,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ North 13568 void | 841,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ North 11954 void | 827,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ North 3404 void | 812,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ South 3713 void | 805,000,000 | ||
| LOWZ South 4325 void | 804,000,000 | ||
| CMASS South 5582 void | 796,000,000 | ||
| Tully-10 void | 792,000,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully | |
| LOWZ North 6177 void | 789,000,000 | ||
| Tully-9 void | 746,000,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully | |
| B&B Abell-20 void | 684,000,000 | ||
| B&B Abell-9 void | 652,000,000 | ||
| Tully-7 void | 567,240,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully | |
| Tully-4 void | 564,000,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully | |
| Tully-6 void | 557,460,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully | |
| Tully-8 void | 554,200,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully | |
| B&B Abell-21 void | 521,600,000 | ||
| B&B Abell-28 void | 521,600,000 | ||
| 489,000,000 (most likely value) | A recent analysis of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) in 2007 has found an irregularity of the temperature fluctuation of the cosmic microwave background within the vicinity of the constellation Eridanus with analysis found to be 70 microkelvins cooler than the average CMB temperature. One speculation is that a void could cause the cold spot, with the possible size on the left. However, it may be as large as 1 billion light-years, close to the size of the Giant Void. | ||
| 489,000,000 | |||
| 489,000,000 | |||
| 489,000,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully | ||
| 469,440,000 | |||
| 456,400,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully | ||
| 456,000,000 | |||
| 456,000,000 | |||
| 443,360,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully | ||
| 423,800,000 | |||
| 423,800,000 | |||
| 414,000,000 | |||
| 391,200,000 | |||
| 391,200,000 | |||
| 391,200,000 | |||
| 378,160,000 | |||
| 365,120,000 | |||
| 358,600,000 | |||
| 358,600,000 | |||
| 358,600,000 | |||
| 358,600,000 | |||
| 358,600,000 | |||
| 358,600,000 | |||
| 342,000,000 | |||
| 342,100,000 | |||
| 339,000,000 | Virgo Supercluster, Coma Supercluster, Perseus–Pisces Supercluster, Ursa Major-Lynx Supercluster, Hydra–Centaurus Supercluster, Sculptor Supercluster, Pavo–Corona Australes Supercluster form a sheet between the Northern Local Supervoid and the Southern Local Supervoid. The Hercules Supercluster separates the Northern Local Void from the Boötes Void. The Perseus-Pisces Supercluster and Pegasus Supercluster form a sheet separate the Northern Local Void and Southern Local Void from the Pegasus Void.[32] | ||
| 330,000,000 | Also known as The Giant Nothing | ||
| 328,000,000 | |||
| 252,000,000 | |||
| 217,000,000 | |||
| 215,000,000 | |||
| 210,000,000 | |||
| 198,000,000 | |||
| 195,000,000 | The nearest void to the Milky Way. | ||
| 177,000,000 | |||
| 166,000,000 | |||
| 163,000,000 | |||
| 145,000,000 | |||
| 142,000,000 | |||
| 141,000,000 | |||
| 139,000,000 | |||
| 135,000,000 | |||
| 131,000,000 | |||
| Pegasus Void | 130,000,000 | [33] The Perseus–Pisces Supercluster and Pegasus Supercluster form a sheet separate the Northern Local Void and Southern Local Void from the Pegasus Void. | |
| 128,000,000 | |||
| 127,000,000 | |||
| 117,000,000 | |||
| 117,000,000 | |||
| 116,000,000 | |||
| 113,000,000 | |||
| 108,000,000 | Located just behind the galaxy concentration Eridanus-Fornax-Dorado. | ||
| 104,000,000 | |||
| 104,000,000 | |||
| 104,000,000 | |||
| 102,000,000 | |||
| 99,000,000 | |||
| 97,000,000 | |||
| 93,000,000 | |||
| 90,000,000 | |||
| 89,000,000 | |||
| 83,000,000 | |||
| 83,000,000 | |||
| 81,000,000 | |||
| 81,000,000 | |||
| 69,000,000 | |||
| 68,000,000 | |||
| 66,000,000 | |||
| 63,000,000 | |||
| 61,000,000 |