In the constellation Eridanus, southwest of Orion something quite peculiar has been found.
In this particular part of the universe, 6-10 billion light years away, there is a remarkable drop in the number of galaxies.
Astronomers had known there was something different about this spot in the universe, it had been dubbed the ‘cold spot’ because it stood out on a map produced by the Cosmic Microwave Background or (CMB), which are faint radio waves that are a remnant of the Big Bang, kind of like the earliest baby picture available of the universe.
This cold region of Eridanus was discovered in 2004 after studying the ‘Sky Survey’, which as its name suggests is a mapping of regions of the sky, it was found that there was a scarcity of galaxies in this area.
That along with the slightly lower temperature in this area led astronomers to come to the conclusion that there is an enormous hole in this part of the universe, nearly a billion light-years across.
It is empty of both normal matter such as stars, galaxies and gas, as well as the mysterious dark matter. Read more about this phenomenon here.
This image taken by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. Visit the Chandra site : http://chandra.harvard.edu/
Astronomers have known for years that the Universe has voids largely empty of matter, but no one has ever found one this size and they believe that what they have found is not normal.
Well, I ask, what is normal in this universe of outstanding beauty and infinite possibilities?
That wraps itself around our tiny planet and carries us through its expansion of the infinite so vast, so bizarre and so delightfully stunning.
It is the envy of us all that astronomers have a very unique perspective as they gaze out into the boundless realms of the universe, seeing things few of us could imagine.
What they will discover next will be reported to you from the roving mind of your raving reporter,
Clip Tycles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kkTh8Wkx-s
