The universe is made up of billions of stars and other celestial objects such as planets, comets, asteroids, etc. All these bodies structure themselves into galaxies, clusters and superclusters. However, on a large scale, the structure of the universe is said to be “lacunary” because it is mostly made up of vacuum. Explanations.
To believe the astronomersand even if the number ofstars visible to the naked eye is tiny, there would be some 1023 stars in L’universe.
Stars structured into galaxies
The stars first organize themselves into galaxiesstructures that span approximately 100,000 light years. There would be between 100 and 200 billion galaxies in the universe as we know it. That of which the Solar System is a part has been baptized the Milky Way and includes some 100 billion stars. The Milky Way is a spiral galaxybut galaxies can also take on an elliptical or even irregular shape.
Galaxies structured as clusters of galaxies
Galaxies can link together through their gravitational force and form cluster of galaxies ten million light-years away. The one to which the Milky Way belongs is called “the local group “. Among the thirty galaxies that it shelters, we find in particular the famous andromeda galaxy. The universe would have about 25 billioncluster of galaxies.
Clusters of galaxies structured in superclusters
Clusters of galaxies then organize themselves into superclusters, colossal structures, of the order of 150 million light-years and composed of several dozen clusters each. In the visible universe, there would be some 10 million superclusters.
The lacunar structure of the universe and the cosmic vacuum
Beyond the quantitative aspect, what could be called “the fabric” of the universe is presented in the form of filaments, like a three-dimensional network in Spider web (see picture above).
Between the superclusters, there are therefore huge areas of emptiness (the universe is “lacunary”), areas that would reach, for some, hundreds of millions of light-years. According to astronomers, these vacuum zones would represent some 90% of the volume total of the universe.
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