The Mega-Structure that Shocked Astronomers

The Saraswati is one of the largest structures in the entire universe. Discovered by Indian astronomers at IISER and IUCAA in 2017, the supercluster is named after the Hindu Goddess of music and knowledge, Saraswati.

On the largest scale, the Universe looks like a giant cosmic web. First, stars, including our Sun, are grouped into galaxies. Then, the galaxies are clustered into galactic groups, bound together to form galaxy clusters. When these galaxy clusters occasionally merge, they create the largest structures called "Superclusters." They can contain baryonic masses of up to trillions of times the mass of the Sun and stretch over tens to hundreds of mega-parsecs. Thus, they trace the most extensive scale structure in the Universe comprising dozens of galaxy clusters.

Saraswati is one such supercluster 4 billion light years away.

Basics of Astrophysics: https://bit.ly/3xII54M

Created by: Rishabh Nakra
Written by: Harshita Gandhi
Narrated by: Jeffrey Smith

#astronomy #space #science #saraswati #galaxy