It is not a black hole, which is a small sphere of densely packed matter. Rather, this one is mostly devoid of stars, gas and other normal matter, and it's also strangely empty of the mysterious "dark matter" that permeates the cosmos. Other space voids have been found before, but nothing on this scale.
Astronomers don't know why the hole is there.
"Not only has no one ever found a void this big, but we never even expected to find one this size," said researcher Lawrence Rudnick of the University of Minnesota.
(Via KurzweilAI.net.)
I think this must be where Seth Shostak stores his ego.
3 comments:
I checked the link for this story, and looked at the associated graphic, which was pretty unclear as to where this huge void is, in terms of approximate location within the greater observable universe, but it occurred to me:
Could this be the residue and origin point of the big bang?
Could this be the residue and origin point of the big bang?
No, no -- I already said what it was. It's where Seth Shostak stores his ego!
Wonder, as this must be so, if he stores it in a velveteen, heart-shaped box when he's not flogging it mercilessly on the dais of his continuous public appearances?
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