Great Wall facts for kids
The Great Walls are the largest known structures in the universe. They are based on data set mapping of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The mapping found an unusually high concentration of similarly distanced GRBs in certain areas.
Structures larger than 1,200,000,000 light years are incompatible with the cosmological principle according to all estimates.
Structure name (year discovered) |
Maximum dimension (in light years) |
Notes |
---|---|---|
Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall (2014) | 10,000,000,000 | Discovered through gamma-ray burst mapping, and is the first structure to exceed 10 billion light years. |
Giant GRB Ring (2015) | 5,600,000,000 | Discovered through gamma-ray burst mapping. Largest known regular formation in the observable Universe. |
Huge-LQG (2012-2013) | 4,000,000,000 | Decoupling of 73 quasars. Largest known large quasar group and the first structure found to exceed 3 billion light years. |
U1.11 LQG (2011) | 2,500,000,000 | Involves 38 quasars. Adjacent to the Clowes-Campusano LQG. |
Clowes-Campusano LQG (1991) | 2,000,000,000 | Grouping of 34 quasars. Discovered by Roger Clowes and Luis Campusano. |
Sloan Great Wall (2003) | 1,370,000,000 | Discovered through the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. |
Pisces-Cetus Supercluster Complex (1987) | 1,000,000,000 | Contains the Milky Way, and is the first galaxy filament to be discovered. (The first LQG was found earlier in 1982.) A new report in 2014 confirms the Milky Way as a member of Laniakea Supercluster. |
CfA2 Great Wall (1989) | 750,000,000 | Also known as the Coma Wall |
Laniakea Supercluster (2014) | 520,000,000 | Galaxy supercluster in which the Earth is located |
Horologium Supercluster (2005) | 550,000,000 | Also known as Horologium-Reticulum Supercluster. |
Images for kids
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The Great Wall of the Qin stretches from Lintao to Liaodong
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The Great Wall of the Han is the longest of all walls, from Mamitu near Yumenguan to Liaodong
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The extent of the Ming Empire and its walls
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Identical satellite images of a section of the Great Wall in northern Shanxi, running diagonally from lower left to upper right and not to be confused with the more prominent river running from upper left to lower right. In the image on the right, the Great Wall has been outlined in red. The region pictured is 12 km × 12 km (7 mi × 7 mi).
See also
In Spanish: Gran Muralla China para niños