The Study of the Large-Scale Structure of the Universe

ImPrateekBrahuldey7417
12 Min Read

Our Universe is the most strange yet beautiful phenomenon that has ever occurred. Have you ever wondered about the study of the large-scale structure of the Universe? This article is all about it. Ever since the Big Bang, our universe has kept on expanding; this is due to the fact that there are many reactions that occur at a simultaneous rate. These reactions could be of any sort, for example, an expanding universe or the birth of a new star. During such events, massive heat and other energies get released into space. Such phenomena lead to the expansion of our Universe.

1. Big Bang

The Big Bang occurred 13.8 billion years ago now, but the growth and development of our universe didn’t stop. Entities like Stars and planets are formed and destroyed at least in One galaxy cluster. The Evolution of our Universe began with the explosion of a highly energetic ball that exploded due to the powerful energy that it contained in such a low space. This led to the explosion and that explosion resulted in the universe we are living in today. The Galaxy population began rapidly after the Big Bang.

The Study of the Large-Scale Structure of the Universe 1
Source: Freepik

Due to the formation of clouds of dust and gases, many primordial stars were formed. These primordial entities were powerful enough to last for billions of years. The stars were the ones who had more reactivity than the other entities. The simultaneous reaction of stars led to the development of the gravitational field that holds the planets together. Also, the reactivity was so powerful that there were not only it siphoned the nearby elements to it but also other interstellar elements leading to the expansion of the star even on a bigger scale.

The stars and the planets are not the only elements that are the result of the Big Bang. There are several other elements and entities like Comets and meteors that were the result of it. The Big Bang, in a nutshell, had a massive Impact on the universe that we know today. Stars and planets both have an ongoing reaction that allows them to stay in their respective orbits, but stars have higher reactivity than the planets, and due to this, the stars are the ones whose gravitational pull is higher. The study of such large-scale entities led to the answers that are important and crucial to humanity and science.

2. Galaxy Clusters

Let us now talk about the Galaxy clusters. Galaxy clusters are a collective group of galaxies that are close to each other. A galaxy clusters can consist of a group of hundreds to thousands of galaxies that are close to each other. There are many galaxy clusters that are found residing nearby to our earth. Galaxy evolution models have found that there are many clusters like the Virgo Cluster in which the black hole was discovered.

The study of the large-scale structure of the universe
Source: Pixabay

Just like how crucial the stars and planets are, Blackholes are a very crucial element too. Blackholes are the aftermath of a dead star. The stars die due to the lack of reactivity in order to produce any significant energy. The energy is required by the stars in order to sustain their living. Due to the lack of any reactivity the stars shrink and then explode and this creates a void. The void is like a space vacuum cleaner in layman’s terms.

2.1. Black Holes

This void created by the stars is known as a blackhole. Blackholes are powerful enough and can suck up any entity, including nearby planets, comets, and other cosmic particles. Black holes convert gravitational energy into light energy. Due to this, the surrounding areas appear to be bright. These were some known facts that were seen and observed by astronomers and cosmologists. There are still a plethora of unknown entities that exist which are still unknown to our human race.

These unknown entities are hidden behind dark matter. In our universe, there are still plenty of things that are left hidden from us humans due to the fact that light cannot reach that place. This dark matter consists of almost 25 percent of our universe. The study of the large-scale structure of the universe can only be possible in the presence of light, and wherever the light cannot reach those places is known as dark matter. The absence of light might be due to the absence of light. Dark energy is not a myth but it exists for real.

2.2. Dark Matter

The void that is present in the black hole comprises dark energy. There are vast regions in our universe that are comprised of dark energy. Very few galaxies reside in our universe, although with time that might change too. Our universe displays coherent structures and observed galaxy populations are present throughout our universe. The early universe was a lot different than what we have now. Physics has answered and played a very crucial role in the understanding of our universe.

Physics helped us answer what gravity is and what all things gravity can do. Gravity is so powerful that it can even bend light, which is not only fascinating but also a strange phenomenon. There are many places where light hasn’t reached this could be due to the gravitational field of the present entities that don’t allow the light to pass through or travel to more distant galaxies. However, there could be new galaxy formation taking place due to ongoing reactivity.

This reactivity emits a lot of energy in the process which can lead to the formation of new stars and other entities that would expand our vision and expose more of the universe to us humans. There were many studies and research that were done to determine the scale of our universe. Out of these studies, there was one that played a crucial role in understanding and helping us humans understand the real scale of our universe. The was a survey named “Sloan Digital Sky Survey” or SDSS that was done to determine the scale of our universe.

3. Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)

The Sloan digital sky survey was a multi Image capturing technique that was done. It captures images of various color spectrums, and its job is to combine those images to conclude about the various galaxy properties and the scale of our Universe. SDSS was a very ambitious project and took a lot of resources and time to be carried out successfully. It was done through multiple stages and phases due to the huge scale.

SDSS
Source: Pixabay

The project was highly funded by the Alfred P Sloan Foundation in the year 2000. Thus, the project was named after him. The beginning of this project was done by the University of Washington and Princeton University. Their goal was to basically conduct a redshift survey. Along with these two universities, there was also an organization formed by the name Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC ), which consisted of two additional universities like Washington State University and New Mexico State University in the year 1984.

3.1. Funding And Research

Later in the year 1991, they received huge funding from Sloan to carry out SDSS. SDSS had 4 stages, the first stage began in the year 2000 and ended in the year 2005. The goal of the team was to capture as much of the universe and space as they could. Hundreds of gigabytes of data were generated in a single day of observation. The main advantage of the research was they developed an algorithm to reduce image size without affecting much quality to ensure more of the data is captured. This project helped a lot in the study of the large-scale structure of the Universe.

There was still a massive amount of data generated, however. The type of equipment that was used to carry out the research was a 2.5 m optical wide telescope. This telescope was capable of capturing images in both imaging and spectroscopic mode. However, the Imaging camera was retired in 2009, and afterward, only spectroscopic mode was used. Throughout the phased manner, the telescopic camera captured a 3D image of our galaxy and quasars nearby and captured 80 million objects. It was able to capture more than Galaxies and Quasars during its single observation.

It took a massive amount of resources and time to carry out this research and solve the cosmological parameters but in the end, it was a successful survey. Sloan Digital Sky Survey captured fraction of the part of our sky with an image count of 80 million. However, there are many more discoveries to be done. The cosmic web is ever-expanding. There are still many cosmological parameters that are to be considered.

4. In Summary

Our Universe is an expanding universe, it is expanding at a very fast rate. The larger scales of our universe make it a primordial soup of ordinary gases and dust. The different epochs of the local group of stars and planets are due to the ongoing energy produced by the respective entities. There are still many strange and powerful phenomena that are to be discovered by us. We have still only observed about 5% of the universe with many still consisting of dark matter. The cosmic web is powerful and full of mysterious entities that are yet to be discovered. This was all about the study of the large-scale structure of the Universe.

Last Updated on by rahuldey7417

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Prateek is a seasoned editorial professional with a unique perspective on language and an unwavering commitment to precision. Eager to dive deep into the dynamic world of editing, he brings a cheerful energy to the craft. Pratik's keen eye for detail and his genuine love for language position him as a promising editor, ready to refine and elevate written content. Education B.M.S Finance