The Eridanus supervoid is approximately 1.8 billion light-years across and is located about 3 billion light-years from the Milky Way.
Do you know what multiverses are? According to various theorists, there is a massive possibility of multiple universes as we have uncountable voids or cold spots in space. The biggest of the lot is known as the Boötes void. No one truly knows what resides in these mysterious voids.
Scientists initially considered the possibility of multiverses as a fiction. However, their perception changed when probes discovered various voids in space. We have recently spotted another cold spot or void in the universe; the said spot is known as the Eridanus supervoid. Certain scientists believe that it may be evidence that a parallel universe bumped into our own.
Following are ten fascinating facts regarding the Eridanus supervoid. Let’s have a look at them, shall we?
1) The mass of the galaxies is lower than the rest of the universe in a super void:
Multiple studies suggest that the void in Eridanus constellation is a super void, where the mass of galaxies is lower than the rest of the universe. We have multiple superclusters of galaxies in the space, and the superclusters are linked to one another by threads or filaments. It is believed that the threads are made up of dark matter. Moreover, they form barriers between space and are generally known as the largest structures in the universe.
2) Theorists claim that voids in space lead to another dimension:
The Eridanus supervoid was formerly believed to be just an empty void of space without any dark matter, but this theory has recently been brought into question. Scientists now believe that the said void leads to another dimension.
3) Eridanus supervoid is quite far from the Milky Way:
Eridanus supervoid is approximately 1.8 billion light-years across and is located about 3 billion light-years from the Milky Way.
4) The Eridanus supervoid is quite rare:
The chances of having a cold spot as large as the Eridanus supervoid are about 1 in 50 universes. Scientists also mention that the circulation of heat throughout the universe is asymmetrical, with higher than ordinary temperatures in the southern hemisphere, near this cold spot.
5) Laura Mersini Houghton thinks that the void leads to another universe:
One of the popular astrophysicists, Laura Mersini Houghton, mentioned that the said void could be a parallel universe that bumped into our own at some point in the past. Multiple quantum physicists accept this possibility, but it contradicts the laws of traditional physics.
6) The CMB cold spot is different from the rest of the universe:
The Cosmic Microwave Background is a chart of the radiations left by the Big Bang. According to multiple scientists, the radiations were released only a few hundred thousand years after the Big Bang. Hence, it still gives us a glimpse of what happened when we weren’t around. However, a team of cosmologists recently stumbled upon the CMB Cold Spot, which is also known as the Eridanus supervoid. The said region is located near the Eridanus constellation and is cooler than it should have been according to the conventional cosmological model.
7) Multiple voids originated due to big bang:
Scientists believe that spacetime ballooned in size after the big bang. Hence, certain areas of space are denser than others, resulting in voids, supervoids, and their polar opposites such as galaxies, clusters and galaxy superclusters.
8) Lawrence Rudnick suggested another fascinating theory:
A professor at the University of Minnesota, Lawrence Rudnick, believes that the Eridanus void is a ‘universe-in-mass’ black hole that devoured all matter in its proximity. Furthermore, he and his team claim that dark energy is nothing but an illusion brought on by the gravitational effects of a large black hole that rests at the edge of our universe.
9) Eridanus is one of the largest constellations:
Eridanus is known as one of the largest constellations in the southern sky. This constellation is not perfectly visible, and most of its stars reach 4th and 5th magnitude. Moreover, Eridanus is located between Orion, Cetus, Fornax and Taurus constellations, and can easily be seen from all the places in the world.
10) The Eridanus constellation has multiple significant stars:
The Eridanus constellation has four bright stars, 24 main stars which comprise the asterism and 87 stars with Bayer specifications. The brightest among the lot is known as Achenar, a blue B-type star located about 144 light-years from Earth.
We have no idea if the aforementioned theories are accurate or not. Multiple scientists claim that there are different dimensions in the universe. We do not have sufficient equipment to reach the voids, but scientists will eventually come up with suitable solutions.