Unearthing a Cosmic Titan
ESO's Very Large Telescope has uncovered a colossal structure in the early Universe.
The discovery is a galaxy proto-supercluster nicknamed Hyperion, observed when the Universe was only 2.3 billion years old.
At about 5 million billion times the mass of the Sun, it is the most massive structure known in the early Universe — and the largest.
Hyperion has a very complex structure, containing at least 7 high-density regions connected by filaments.
Given its immense size so early in the history of the Universe, Hyperion is expected to evolve into something similar to superclusters visible closer to Earth.
Transcribed by ESO; Translated by —