헤라클레스-코로나 보레알리스 만리장성 내부에는 몇 개의 은하가 있습니까?

Discover how astronomers estimate ~4 billion galaxies inside the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall — the universe’s largest and most debated structure.

Key Takeaways

• Largest candidate structure in the observable universe — 10 to 15 billion light-years across.
• Discovery method: Gamma-ray burst clustering detected in 2013.
• Estimated 은하 count: ~4 billion galaxies at least as massive as the Small Magellanic Cloud.
• Possible total systems: Including dwarf galaxies, potentially hundreds of billions to trillions of stellar systems.
• Debate: Some 천문학 question whether it exists at all.
• Cosmology impact: If confirmed, it challenges the Cosmological Principle and standard Λ-CDM models.

Introduction – A Wall of Galaxies Across the Universe

Milky Way galaxy, featuring names labeling major star clusters, regions, and notable astronomical features—including the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall—within a defined yellow boundary.” class=”wp-image-21501″/>

If you could look across the 코스모스 with godlike vision, you might see something extraordinary: a wall of galaxies so massive it defies conventional understanding. This is the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall (HCBGW) — a possible structure stretching 10 billion light-years across.

But how many 은하계 are in it? And is it even real?
The answers are fascinating — and controversial.

What Is the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall?

The Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall is an enormous aggregation of galaxies, 은하 clusters, and intergalactic filaments detected not by direct imaging, but through statistical patterns in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs).

• Location: Spanning the Hercules and Corona Borealis constellations in our sky
• Distance: ~10 billion light-years from 지구 (redshift z ≈ 1.6–2.1)
• Discovery: 2013 by István Horváth, Jon Hakkila, and Zsolt Bagoly
• Size claim: Possibly the largest single coherent structure in the 우주

Its sheer size — eight to twelve times larger than the theoretical maximum for cosmic structures — has sparked intense debate.

How Astronomers Discovered the HCBGW

Gamma-Ray Burst Clustering

Astronomers used GRBs as 우주 signposts. These energetic explosions often occur when massive 별 die, and they tend to happen in galaxies. By mapping GRB locations and redshifts, the researchers noticed a dense clustering pattern.

• Data source:NASA의Swift and Fermi satellites
• Clustering pattern: GRBs in the redshift range z=1.6–2.1 covered over 120° of sky
• Statistical methods:
  • 2D Kolmogorov–Smirnov (K–S) test → 2σ significance
  • Nearest-Neighbor Test → 3σ clustering
  • Bootstrap simulation → p=0.0018 chance of randomness

This led to the hypothesis of a giant 우주 wall.

How Many Galaxies Could It Contain?

space, not far from the vast Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall.” class=”wp-image-21502″/>

To estimate the galaxy count, 천문학 use volume, density, and overdensity factors.

Formula:
N_gal = V × n_gal × δ

1. Volume (V): Approx. 4.8 × 10⁹ Mpc³ for a structure ~10 billion light-years across
2. Galaxy density (n_gal): ~0.17 galaxies per cubic Mpc (for galaxies ≥ Small Magellanic Cloud mass at z ≈ 2)
3. Overdensity factor (δ): ~5 (similar to superclusters)

Calculation:
4.8 × 10⁹ × 0.17 × 5 ≈ 4 billion galaxies

[Inference] Including dwarf galaxies could raise this number by 100×, giving hundreds of billions to trillions of stellar systems.

Why This Number Is Mind-Blowing

• Milky Way comparison: Our galaxy has ~200 billion 별. Multiply that by 4 billion galaxies, and you get numbers that strain 사람의 comprehension.
• Light travel time: Even light, at 299,792 km/s, would take billions of years to cross it.
• Early 우주: The wall’s redshift suggests it formed when the universe was just 3.8 billion years old — incredibly early for such a large structure.

The Controversy – Is It Real?

Reasons to Believe

• Multiple statistical tests indicate GRB clustering.
• The scale is similar to other large candidates (e.g., Sloan Great Wall), though much larger.

Reasons for Doubt

• Observational bias: GRB detections are uneven across the sky.
• Look-Elsewhere Effect: Patterns can appear significant when searching many datasets.
• No matching quasar overdensity: Quasar surveys in the same region show no equivalent structure.

If disproven, the “wall” may simply be a statistical fluke.

Impact on Cosmology

If the HCBGW exists:

• Challenges the Cosmological Principle — the idea that the 우주 is uniform at large scales.
• Forces revision of structure formation models — current Λ-CDM models limit coherent structures to ~1.2 billion light-years.

If it doesn’t:

• Reinforces current cosmological theory.
• Highlights the need for caution in interpreting statistical data.

Future Observations

• ESA’s THESEUS mission will detect GRBs more uniformly, reducing bias.
• LSST at the Vera Rubin Observatory will map billions of galaxies, potentially confirming or refuting the structure.

Firsthand Perspective – Why This Captured My Imagination

I first learned about the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall while reading NASA’s GRB datasets in 2015. The idea of a single structure containing billions of galaxies fascinated me — it was like finding an intergalactic continent.

But as I dug deeper, I realized that science is rarely certain. For every dataset suggesting a wall, another suggested it might be an illusion. That tension between possibility and doubt is what makes astronomy so exciting.

Conclusion

The Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall could be home to around 4 billion galaxies, or it might not exist at all.
Either way, it represents the cutting edge of cosmic cartography — a reminder that the universe is vast, mysterious, and still mostly unmapped.

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