The Sloan Great Wall, also known as the Great Wall, is a massive cosmic structure discovered in the early 2000s. It is a supercluster of galaxies and is considered one of the largest known structures in the universe. Here are some key details about the Sloan Great Wall:
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Size and Scale: The Sloan Great Wall stretches across a vast distance of approximately 1.4 billion light-years. It is a filamentary structure, consisting of galaxies, galaxy clusters, and dark matter, spanning a significant portion of the observable universe.
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Discovery: The Sloan Great Wall was discovered using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), a large-scale astronomical survey that mapped a significant portion of the sky. The survey identified this enormous structure through the distribution of galaxies and their clustering patterns.
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Cosmic Web: The Sloan Great Wall is part of the cosmic web, a vast network of filaments and voids that make up the large-scale structure of the universe. It is one of the most prominent and extensive features within this cosmic web.
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Galaxy Distribution: The Sloan Great Wall contains a vast number of galaxies, arranged in a filamentary structure. Galaxies within the wall are gravitationally bound to each other, forming galaxy clusters and superclusters.
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Scientific Significance: The discovery of the Sloan Great Wall provides valuable insights into the large-scale structure of the universe and the process of galaxy formation and evolution. It offers astronomers a deeper understanding of the distribution of matter in the universe and the intricate interplay between dark matter and visible matter.
The Sloan Great Wall is a remarkable astronomical discovery that highlights the immense scale and complexity of the universe. It serves as a testament to the ongoing efforts of astronomers and scientists to explore and unravel the mysteries of the cosmos.