Scientists accidentally make huge discovery that 'challenges our understanding of the universe'
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: STELLARIUM/NASA
Thanks to advancements in technology and more expertise in the field, scientists continue to make fascinating discoveries.
And recently, scientists discovered a massive ring-shaped structure in space that brings up more questions than answers.
The recently discovered cosmic megastructure, now dubbed the Big Ring, has a diameter of about 1.3 billion light-years.
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Work on the structure is well and truly making history as it is among some of the largest to have ever been looked on by experts.
And as it is seen from Earth, the Big Ring is said to be roughly the size of 15 moons in the night sky.
The latest findings remarkably challenge our current understanding of the universe thanks to its extremely large size.
It has for so long been believed that the universe is homogeneous on a large scale and looks the same in all directions.
However, the latest structure, which is more than nine-billion light years from Earth, contradicts that long-running belief.
The structure - which is made up of galaxies and galaxy clusters - is the second of such a huge size to be identified by British PhD student Alexia Lopez.
She also discovered a structure spanning 3.3 billion light-years known as the Giant Arc some three years ago.
Lopez, who studies at the University of Central Lancashire, said: "From current cosmological theories, we didn't think structures on this scale were possible.
"We could expect maybe one exceedingly large structure in all our observable universe."
As per the Guardian, the student added: "These oddities keep getting swept under the rug, but the more we find, we're going to have to come face-to-face with the fact that maybe our standard model needs rethinking.
"As a minimum, it's incomplete. As a maximum, we need a completely new theorem of cosmology."
As per the BBC, Lopez says she made the impressive discovery unwittingly, even more surreal considering she's a student.
"I do have to pinch myself, because I made these discoveries accidentally, they were serendipitous discoveries. But it is a big thing and I can't believe that I'm talking about it, I don't believe that it's me," she said.
Lopez presented her findings at the 243rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society in New Orleans on Thursday.
"Both of these structures are much larger - the Giant Arc is almost three times bigger and the Big Ring's circumference is comparable to the Giant Arc's length," she added.
"From current cosmological theories, we didn't think structures on this scale were possible."