List of largest cosmic structures

This is a list of the largest cosmic structures so far discovered. The unit of measurement used is the light-year (distance traveled by light in one Julian year; approximately 9.46 trillion kilometres).

Galaxy filaments form massive, thread-like structures on the order of millions of light-years. Computer simulation.

The Sloan Great Wall, the Pisces–Cetus Supercluster Complex, the Horologium-Reticulum Supercluster and the Shapley Supercluster as seen in the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey

This list includes superclusters, galaxy filaments and large quasar groups (LQGs). The structures are listed based on their longest dimension.

This list refers only to coupling of matter with defined limits, and not the coupling of matter in general (such as, for example, the cosmic microwave background, which fills the entire universe). All structures in this list are defined as to whether their presiding limits have been identified.

There are some reasons to be cautious about this list:

• The Zone of Avoidance, or the part of the sky occupied by the Milky Way, blocks out light from several structures, making their limits imprecisely identified.
• Some structures are too distant to be seen even with the most powerful telescopes.
• Some structures have no defined limits, or endpoints. All structures are believed to be part of the cosmic web, which is a conclusive idea.^{[clarification needed]} Most structures are overlapped by nearby galaxies, creating a problem of how to carefully define the structure's limit.
• Interpreting the observational data requires assumptions about gravitational lensing, redshift, etc.

List of largest structures

List of the largest cosmic structures

Structure name (year discovered)	Maximum dimension (in light-years)	Notes
Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall (2014)[1]	9,700,000,000–10,000,000,000[2][3][4]	Discovered through gamma-ray burst mapping. Existence as a structure is disputed.[5][6][7]
Giant GRB Ring (2015)[8]	5,600,000,000[8]	Discovered through gamma-ray burst mapping. Largest-known regular formation in the observable universe.[8]
Huge-LQG (2012–2013)	4,000,000,000[9][10][11]	Decoupling of 73 quasars. Largest-known large quasar group and the first structure found to exceed 3 billion light-years.
"Giant Arc" (2021)	3,300,000,000[12]	Located 9.2 billion light years away.
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)	1,380,000,000	Discovered through the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
South Pole Wall (2020)	1,370,000,000[13][14][15][16][17][18]	The largest contiguous feature in the local volume and comparable to the Sloan Great Wall (see above) at half the distance. It is located at the celestial South Pole.
King Ghidorah Supercluster (2022)	1,300,000,000[19]	Consists of at least 15 clusters plus other interconnected filaments. It is the most massive galaxy supercluster discovered so far.[19]
Big Ring (2024)	1,300,000,000	Made up of galaxy clusters.
(Theoretical limit)	1,200,000,000	Structures larger than this size are incompatible with the cosmological principle according to all estimates. However, whether the existence of these structures itself constitutes a refutation of the cosmological principle is still unclear.[20]
Ho'oleilana Bubble (2023)	1,000,000,000	Contains about 56,000 galaxies, located 820 million light years away.
BOSS Great Wall (BGW) (2016)	1,000,000,000	Structure consisting of 4 superclusters of galaxies. The mass and volume exceeds the amount of the Sloan Great Wall.[21]
Perseus–Pegasus Filament (1985)	1,000,000,000	This galaxy filament contains the Perseus–Pisces Supercluster.
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 the Laniakea Supercluster.
CfA2 Great Wall (1989)	750,000,000	Also known as the Coma Wall.
Saraswati Supercluster	652,000,000[22]	The Saraswati Supercluster consists of 43 massive galaxy clusters, which include Abell 2361 and ZWCl 2341.1+0000.
Boötes Supercluster	620,000,000
Horologium-Reticulum Supercluster (2005)	550,000,000	Also known as the Horologium Supercluster.
Laniakea Supercluster (2014)	520,000,000	Galaxy supercluster in which Earth is located.
Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 11	500,000,000	Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash.[23][24]
Hyperion proto-supercluster (2018)	489,000,000	The largest and earliest known proto– supercluster.
Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 12	480,000,000	Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash.[23][24]
Newman LQG (U1.54)	450,000,000	Discovered Peter R Newman[25] et al.
Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 5	430,000,000	Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash.[23][24]
Tesch–Engels LQG	420,000,000
Shapley Supercluster	400,000,000	First identified by Harlow Shapley as a cloud of galaxies in 1930, it was not identified as a structure until 1989.
Komberg–Kravstov–Lukash LQG 3	390,000,000	Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash.[23][24]
U1.90	380,000,000
Lynx–Ursa Major Filament (LUM Filament)	370,000,000
Sculptor Wall	370,000,000	Also known as the Southern Great Wall.
Einasto Supercluster	360,000,000	[26]
Pisces-Cetus Supercluster	350,000,000
Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 2	350,000,000	Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash.[23][24]
z=2.38 filament around protocluster ClG J2143-4423	330,000,000
Webster LQG	320,000,000	First LQG (Large Quasar Group) discovered.[24][27]
Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 8	310,000,000	Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash.[23][24]
Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 1	280,000,000	Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash.[23][24]
Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 6	260,000,000	Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash.[23][24]
Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 7	250,000,000	Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash.[23][24]
SCL @ 1338+27	228,314,341	One of the most distant known superclusters.
Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 9	200,000,000	Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash.[23][24]
SSA22 Protocluster	200,000,000	Giant collection of Lyman-alpha blobs.
Ursa Major Supercluster	200,000,000
Komberg-Kravtsov-Lukash LQG 10	180,000,000	Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash.[23][24]
Virgo Supercluster	110,000,000	A part of the Laniakea Supercluster (see above). It also contains the Milky Way Galaxy, which contains the Solar System where Earth orbits the Sun. Listed here for reference.

List of largest voids

See also: List of voids

Voids are immense spaces between galaxy filaments and other large-scale structures. Technically they are not structures. They are vast spaces which contain very few or no galaxies. They are theorized to be caused by quantum fluctuations during the early formation of the universe.

A list of the largest voids so far discovered is below. Each is ranked according to its longest dimension.

List of the largest voids

Void name/designation	Maximum dimension (in light-years)	Notes
LOWZ North 13788 void	2,953,000,000	One of largest known voids, containing 109,066 known galaxies.[28]
Local Hole	2,000,000,000	Proposed void containing the Milky Way galaxy and Local Group as an explanation for the discrepancy in the Hubble constant. Existence is still disputed.[29][30]
LOWZ North 4739 void	1,846,000,000	[28]
LOWZ North 16634 void	1,671,000,000	[28]
LOWZ North 11627 void	1,663,000,000	[28]
LOWZ South 4653 void	1,610,000,000	[28]
LOWZ North 13222 void	1,515,000,000	[28]
Giant Void	1,300,000,000	Also known as Canes Venatici Supervoid
LOWZ North 14348 void	1,277,000,000	[28]
LOWZ South 5589 void	1,110,000,000	[28]
LOWZ North 13721 void	1,095,000,000	[28]
LOWZ North 11918 void	998,000,000	[28]
LOWZ North 5692 void	984,000,000	[28]
Bahcall & Soneira 1982 void	978,000,000	This suspected void ranged 100 degrees across the sky, and has shown up on other surveys as several separate voids.[31]
LOWZ North 11446 void	944,000,000	[28]
LOWZ North 15734 void	938,000,000	[28]
LOWZ North 16394 void	934,000,000	[28]
LOWZ North 8541 void	917,000,000	[28]
LOWZ South 4775 void	899,000,000	[28]
LOWZ North 12092 void	891,000,000	[28]
LOWZ North 3294 void	887,000,000	[28]
Tully-11 void	880,000,000	Catalogued by R. Brent Tully
CMASS South 7225 void	865,000,000	[28]
LOWZ North 14775 void	848,000,000	[28]
LOWZ South 6334 void	846,000,000	[28]
LOWZ North 10254 void	843,000,000	[28]
LOWZ North 13568 void	841,000,000	[28]
LOWZ North 11954 void	827,000,000	[28]
LOWZ North 3404 void	812,000,000	[28]
LOWZ South 3713 void	805,000,000	[28]
LOWZ South 4325 void	804,000,000	[28]
CMASS South 5582 void	796,000,000	[28]
Tully-10 void	792,000,000	Catalogued by R. Brent Tully
LOWZ North 6177 void	789,000,000	[28]
Tully-9 void	746,000,000	Catalogued by R. Brent Tully
B&B Abell-20 void	684,000,000
B&B Abell-9 void	652,000,000
Tully-7 void	567,240,000	Catalogued by R. Brent Tully
Tully-4 void	564,000,000	Catalogued by R. Brent Tully
Tully-6 void	557,460,000	Catalogued by R. Brent Tully
Tully-8 void	554,200,000	Catalogued by R. Brent Tully
B&B Abell-21 void	521,600,000
B&B Abell-28 void	521,600,000
Eridanus Supervoid	489,000,000 (most likely value)	A recent analysis of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) in 2007 has found an irregularity of the temperature fluctuation of the cosmic microwave background within the vicinity of the constellation Eridanus with analysis found to be 70 microkelvins cooler than the average CMB temperature. One speculation is that a void could cause the cold spot, with the possible size on the left. However, it may be as large as 1 billion light-years, close to the size of the Giant Void.
B&B Abell-4 void	489,000,000
B&B Abell-15 void	489,000,000
Tully-3 void	489,000,000	Catalogued by R. Brent Tully
1994EEDTAWSS-10 void	469,440,000
Tully-1 void	456,400,000	Catalogued by R. Brent Tully
B&B Abell-8 void	456,000,000
B&B Abell-22 void	456,000,000
Tully-2 void	443,360,000	Catalogued by R. Brent Tully
B&B Abell-24 void	423,800,000
B&B Abell-27 void	423,800,000
CMASS North 4407 void	414,000,000	[28]
B&B Abell-7 void	391,200,000
B&B Abell-12 void	391,200,000
B&B Abell-29 void	391,200,000
1994EEDTAWSS-21 void	378,160,000
Southern Local Supervoid	365,120,000
B&B Abell-10 void	358,600,000
B&B Abell-11 void	358,600,000
B&B Abell-13 void	358,600,000
B&B Abell-17 void	358,600,000
B&B Abell-19 void	358,600,000
B&B Abell-23 void	358,600,000
CMASS North 11496 void	342,000,000	[28]
1994EEDTAWSS-19 void	342,100,000
Northern Local Supervoid	339,000,000	Virgo Supercluster, Coma Supercluster, Perseus–Pisces Supercluster, Ursa Major-Lynx Supercluster, Hydra–Centaurus Supercluster, Sculptor Supercluster, Pavo–Corona Australis Supercluster form a sheet between the Northern Local Supervoid and the Southern Local Supervoid. The Hercules Supercluster separates the Northern Local Void from the Boötes Void. The Perseus-Pisces Supercluster and Pegasus Supercluster form a sheet separate the Northern Local Void and Southern Local Void from the Pegasus Void.[32]
Boötes Void	330,000,000	Also known as The Giant Nothing
1994EEDTAWSS-12 void	328,000,000
CMASS North 15935 void	252,000,000	[28]
SSRS1 4 void	217,000,000
GACIRASS V0 void	215,000,000
CMASS North 60 void	210,000,000	[28]
SSRS2 3 void	198,000,000
Local Void	195,000,000	The nearest void to the Milky Way.
SSRS2 1 void	177,000,000
IRAS 1 void	166,000,000
Sculptor void	163,000,000
IRAS 3 void	145,000,000
IRAS 2 void	142,000,000
IRAS 7 void	141,000,000
SSRS2 11 void	139,000,000
IRAS 6 void	135,000,000
IRAS 13 void	131,000,000
Pegasus Void	130,000,000	[33] The Perseus–Pisces Supercluster and Pegasus Supercluster form a sheet separate the Northern Local Void and Southern Local Void from the Pegasus Void.[32]
IRAS 8 void	128,000,000
SSRS2 9 void	127,000,000
IRAS 9 void	117,000,000
IRAS 5 void	117,000,000
SSRS2 4 void	116,000,000
SSRS2 10 void	113,000,000
SSRS1 1 void	108,000,000	Located just behind the galaxy concentration Eridanus-Fornax-Dorado.
IRAS 11 void	104,000,000
SSRS2 6 void	104,000,000
CMASS North 10020 void	104,000,000	[28]
IRAS 12 void	102,000,000
Perseus-Pisces void	99,000,000
SSRS1 2 void	97,000,000
IRAS 14 void	93,000,000
SSRS2 8 void	90,000,000
SSRS2 15 void	89,000,000
GACIRASS V1 void	83,000,000
SSRS2 7 void	83,000,000
SSRS2 12 void	81,000,000
GACIRASS V3 void	81,000,000
SSRS2 14 void	69,000,000
SSRS2 18 void	68,000,000
SSRS2 16 void	66,000,000
GACIRASS V2 void	63,000,000
SSRS2 17 void	61,000,000

See also

• List of most massive black holes
• List of largest galaxies
• List of largest nebulae
• List of largest stars and List of most massive stars
• List of largest exoplanets
• Lists of astronomical objects
• List of voids
• List of Large quasar groups
• Timeline of knowledge about galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and large-scale structure
• List of superclusters