Chapter 1: Unveiling the South Pole Wall

Recent astronomical research has revealed a staggering cosmic structure known as the “South Pole Wall.” This immense formation, measuring 1.4 billion light-years in length, is home to thousands of galaxies. It exists within the Zone of Galactic Obscuration, a region in the southern sky obscured by the brilliance of our Milky Way galaxy.

According to astronomers, the magnitude of the South Pole Wall rivals that of the Sloan Great Wall, which is the sixth-largest cosmic structure documented, extending 1.38 billion light-years. For context, our Milky Way galaxy measures approximately 200,000 light-years, while the largest known structure, the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall, spans an astonishing 10 billion light-years. The observable universe itself stretches across 93 billion light-years.

“The unexpected aspect of our finding is that this structure matches the size of the Sloan Great Wall yet is located only half as far away, remaining hidden in a dim region of the southern sky.”

~ Daniel Pomarède, Lead Author

The observation that galaxies are not randomly dispersed but rather exist in clusters, known as the cosmic web, has been long established. These galaxies are interconnected through vast strands of hydrogen gas, surrounded by immense voids. The study of these intergalactic connections falls under the field of cosmography, which is the mapping of the cosmos.

This video discusses the discovery of the South Pole Wall, highlighting its significance as one of the largest structures in the universe and its implications for our understanding of cosmic formations.

Chapter 2: Mapping the Cosmic Web

Building on prior research from 2014, Daniel Pomarede, a cosmographer from Paris-Saclay University, along with his team, has successfully mapped the South Pole Wall. Previously, they charted the Laniakea supercluster, which contains our Milky Way galaxy and spans 520 million light-years, holding the mass equivalent to 100 million billion suns.

To ascertain the distance of the South Pole Wall, researchers utilized redshift, which measures how quickly an object moves away from Earth due to the universe's expansion. This concept was first introduced by the renowned astronomer Edwin Hubble in 1929, who noted that the farther an object is, the faster it appears to recede.

For the current study, however, the team employed a novel approach. Alongside redshift, they factored in the peculiar velocities of galaxies, which are influenced by gravitational interactions. This method allowed for the detection of hidden mass affecting galactic movement, thereby revealing dark matter—an invisible substance that constitutes approximately 85% of the universe's matter.

The resulting map depicted a fascinating bubble of matter, with its center at the southernmost point of the sky. A vast arm extends northward towards the constellation Cetus, while a shorter arm reaches towards the constellation Apus. Researchers acknowledge that this may not encompass the entire South Pole Wall, and a more comprehensive understanding will emerge as the universe is mapped on a broader scale.

In this video, you will be astounded by the scale of cosmic structures, including the newly discovered South Pole Wall, and its implications for our understanding of the universe.

Complete research findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal.