The Boötes void (or the Great Nothing)[1] is an enormous, approximately spherical region of space, containing very few galaxies. It is located in the vicinity of the constellation Boötes, hence its name. Its center is located at approximately right ascension14h 50m and declination 46°.[2]
Description
At nearly 330 million light-years in diameter[3] (approximately 0.27% of the diameter of the observable Universe), or nearly 236,000 Mpc3 in volume, the Boötes void is one of the largest-known voids in the Universe, and is referred to as a supervoid. Its discovery was reported by Robert Kirshner et al. (1981) as part of a survey of galactic redshifts. The center of the Boötes void is approximately 700 million light-years from Earth.[4]
Other astronomers soon discovered that the void contained a few galaxies. In 1987, J. Moody, Robert P. Kirshner, G. MacAlpine, and S. Gregory published their findings of eight galaxies in the void.[5] M. Strauss and John Huchra announced the discovery of a further three galaxies in 1988, and Greg Aldering, G. Bothun, Robert P. Kirshner, and Ron Marzke announced the discovery of fifteen galaxies in 1989. By 1997, the Boötes void was known to contain 60 galaxies.
According to astronomer Greg Aldering, the scale of the void is such that "If the Milky Way had been in the center of the Boötes void, we wouldn't have known there were other galaxies until the 1960s."[6]
The Hercules Supercluster forms part of the near edge of the void.[2]
Using a rough estimate of about 1 galaxy every 10 million light-years (about 4 times further than the Andromeda Galaxy is from Earth), there should be approximately 2,000 galaxies in the Boötes void.[7]
A map of galaxy voids
Origins
There are no major apparent inconsistencies between the existence of the Boötes void and the Lambda-CDM model of cosmological evolution.[8] It has been theorized that the Boötes void was formed from the merger of smaller voids, much like the way in which soap bubbles coalesce to form larger bubbles. This would account for the small number of galaxies that populate a roughly tube-shaped region running through the middle of the void.[6]
Confusion with Barnard 68
Boötes void has been often associated with images of Barnard 68, a dark nebula that does not allow light to pass through; however, the images of Barnard 68 are much darker than those observed of Boötes void, as the nebula is much closer and there are fewer stars in front of it, as well as its being a physical mass that blocks light passing through.[citation needed]
See also
List of largest voids
Footnotes
Cowen, Ron (2000). "Big, Bigger... Biggest?". Science News. 158 (7): 104–105. doi:10.2307/3981218. JSTOR 3981218.
Kirshner, Robert P.; Oemler, Augustus, Jr.; Schechter, Paul L.; Shectman, Stephen A. (Mar 1, 1987). "A survey of the Bootes void". Astrophysical Journal, Part 1. 314: 493–506. Bibcode:1987ApJ...314..493K. doi:10.1086/165080. ISSN 0004-637X.
"A Spongy Universe" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-05-04.
"The Bootes Void". Archived from the original on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2011-08-25.
Moody, J. Ward; Kirshner, Robert P.; MacAlpine, Gordon M.; Gregory, Stephen A. (March 1987). "Emission-line galaxies in the Bootes void". The Astrophysical Journal. 314: L33. Bibcode:1987ApJ...314L..33M. doi:10.1086/184846.
"Filling the void - understanding the formation of the Bootes void in intergalactic space - Brief Article". Discover magazine. August 1995. Archived from the original on 2007-11-19. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
McCracken, Jason (July 30, 2013). "Next Stop: Voids". Blueship. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
"Cosmic_Voids" Retrieved on June 10, 2013
References
Kirshner, R. P.; Oemler, A. J.; Schechter, P. L.; Shectman, S. A. (1981). "A million cubic megaparsec void in Bootes". The Astrophysical Journal. 248: L57–60. Bibcode:1981ApJ...248L..57K. doi:10.1086/183623.
Kirshner, R. P.; Oemler, A. J.; Schechter, P. L.; Shectman, S. A. (1987). "A survey of the Bootes void". The Astrophysical Journal. 314: 493. Bibcode:1987ApJ...314..493K. doi:10.1086/165080.
Coordinates: Sky map 14h 50m 0s, +46° 0′ 0″
vte
Constellation of Boötes
Boötes in Chinese astronomy Boötes void List of stars in Boötes
Stars
Bayer
α (Arcturus) β (Nekkar) γ (Seginus) δ (Princeps) ε (Izar) ζ η (Muphrid) θ (Asellus Primus) ι (Asellus Secundus) κ (Asellus Tertius) λ (Xuange) μ (Alkalurops) ν1 ν2 ξ ο π ρ σ τ υ φ χ ψ ω
Flamsteed
1 2 3 6 (e) 7 9 10 11 12 (d) 13 14 15 18 20 22 (f) 24 (g) 26 31 32 33 34 38 (h, Merga) 39 40 44 (i) 45 (c) 46 (b) 47 (k) 50 101 Vir
Variable
R S T ZZ BL BP BX BY CH CI CP CX DE EK HN HP
HR
5123 5138 5270 5346 5361 (A) 5374 5385 5387 5388 5394 5422 5433 5445 5448 5472 5510 5524 5532 5537 5550 5569 5633 5640 5674 5677
HD
129357 131496 (Arcalís) 132406 132563 135944
Other
CFBDSIR 1458+10 GJ 526 HAT-P-4 2MASS 1503+2525 SDSS J1416+1348 TVLM 513-46546 WASP-14 ZTF J153932.16+502738.8
Exoplanets
HD 128311 b c HD 132406 b HD 136418 b (Awasis) Tau Boötis b WASP-14b
Star clusters
NGC 5466
Galaxies
NGC
5248 5490 5529 5544 5545 5548 5559 5562 5579 5609 5613 5614 5615 5624 5653 5665 5676 5682 5714 5752 5753 5754 5755 5820 5821 5829 5837 5886 5929 5930
Numbered
Boötes I Boötes II Boötes III
Other
Arp 302 3C 295 3C 299 3C 303 CLASS B1359+154 Cloverleaf quasar DDO 190 MS 1512-cB58 Teacup galaxy II Zw 73
Galaxy clusters
Abell 1795
Astronomical events
GRB 990123 GRB 080319B SCP 06F6
Hellenica World - Scientific Library
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/"
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
