Local Void

The Local Void is a vast, empty region of space, lying adjacent to the Local Group.[3][4] Discovered by Brent Tully and Rick Fisher in 1987,[5] the Local Void is now known to be composed of three separate sectors, separated by bridges of "wispy filaments".[4] The precise extent of the void is unknown, but it is at least 45 Mpc (150 million light-years) across,[6] and possibly 150 to 300 Mpc.[7][8] The Local Void also appears to have significantly fewer galaxies than expected from standard cosmology.[9]

Local Void
Object typeVoid 
Observation data
(Epoch J2000.0[1])
 18h 38m[1]
Declination+18.0°[1]
In visual light (V)
Size
60 Mpc (200 Mly)[2]

Location and dimensions

Voids are affected by the way gravity causes matter in the universe to "clump together", herding galaxies into clusters and chains, which are separated by regions mostly devoid of galaxies, yet the exact mechanisms are subject to scientific debate.[3][10]

Astronomers have previously noticed that the Milky Way sits in a large, flat array of galaxies called the Local Sheet, which bounds the Local Void.[3] The Local Void extends approximately 60 megaparsecs (200 Mly), beginning at the edge of the Local Group.[11] It is believed that the distance from Earth to the centre of the Local Void must be at least 23 megaparsecs (75 Mly).[4]

The size of the Local Void was calculated due to an isolated dwarf galaxy located inside it. The bigger and emptier the void, the weaker its gravity, and the faster the dwarf should be fleeing the void towards concentrations of matter, yet discrepancies give room for competing theories.[4] Dark energy has been suggested as one alternative explanation for the speedy expulsion of the dwarf galaxy.[3]

An earlier "Hubble Bubble" model, based on measured velocities of Type 1a supernovae, proposed a relative void centred on the Milky Way. Recent analysis of that data, however, suggested that interstellar dust had resulted in misleading measurements.[12]

Several authors have shown that the local universe up to 300 Mpc from the Milky Way is less dense than surrounding areas – by 15–50%. This has been called the Local Void or Local Hole.[7][8] Some media reports have dubbed it the KBC Void,[13] although this name has not been taken up in other publications.

Effect on surroundings

Scientists believe that the Local Void is growing and that the Local Sheet, which makes up one wall of the void, is rushing away from the void's centre at 260 kilometres per second (160 mi/s).[10] Concentrations of matter normally pull together, creating a larger void where matter is rushing away. The Local Void is surrounded uniformly by matter in all directions, except for one sector in which there is nothing, which has the effect of taking more matter away from that sector. The effect on the nearby galaxy is astonishingly large.[4] The Milky Way's velocity away from the Local Void is 970,000 kilometres per hour (600,000 mph).[3][6]

List of void galaxies

Several void galaxies have been found within the Local Void, these include:

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Galaxy Filament Notes Comments
Pisces A [14]
Pisces B [14]
NGC 7077 [15]
NGC 6503 [16]

References
  1. "NAME Local Void". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  2. Nakanishi, Kouichiro; et al. (1 October 1997). "Search and Redshift Survey for IRAS Galaxies behind the Milky Way and Structure of the Local Void". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 112 (2): 245. Bibcode:1997ApJS..112..245N. doi:10.1086/313039.
  3. Shiga, David (1 June 2007). "Dwarf-flinging void is larger than thought". New Scientist. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
  4. Tully, R. Brent; et al. (20 March 2008). "Our Peculiar Motion Away from the Local Void". The Astrophysical Journal. 676 (1): 184–205. arXiv:0705.4139. Bibcode:2008ApJ...676..184T. doi:10.1086/527428.
  5. Tully, R. Brent; Fisher, J. Richard (1987). Nearby Galaxy Atlas. Cambridge University Press. Bibcode:1987nga..book.....T.
  6. "Milky Way moving away from void". Astronomy. 12 June 2007. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
  7. Whitbourn, Joe R.; Shanks, Tom (June 2016). "The galaxy luminosity function and the Local Hole". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 459 (1): 496. arXiv:1603.02322. Bibcode:2016MNRAS.459..496W. doi:10.1093/mnras/stw555.
  8. Keenan, Ryan C.; Barger, Amy J.; Cowie, Lennox L. (5 September 2013). "Evidence for a ~300 Mpc Scale Under-density in the Local Galaxy Distribution". The Astrophysical Journal. 775 (1): 62. arXiv:1304.2884. Bibcode:2013ApJ...775...62K. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/775/1/62.
  9. Peebles, P. J. E.; Nusser, Adi (June 2010). "Nearby galaxies as pointers to a better theory of cosmic evolution". Nature. 465 (7298): 565–569. arXiv:1001.1484. Bibcode:2010Natur.465..565P. doi:10.1038/nature09101. PMID 20520705.
  10. Iwata, Ikuru; Ohta, Kouji; Nakanishi, Kouichiro; Chamaraux, Pierre; Roman, Adel T. (2005). The Growth of the Local Void and the Origin of the Local Velocity Anomaly (PDF). Nearby Large-Scale Structures and the Zone of Avoidance. Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series. 329. pp. 59–66. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 May 2020.
  11. Tully, Brent. "Our CMB Motion: The Local Void influence". Institute for Astronomy. Archived from the original on 28 September 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
  12. Moss, Adam; Zibin, James P.; Scott, Douglas (15 May 2011). "Precision Cosmology Defeats Void Models for Acceleration". Physical Review D. 83 (10): 103515. arXiv:1007.3725. Bibcode:2011PhRvD..83j3515M. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.83.103515.
  13. Siegel, Ethan (7 June 2017). "We're Way Below Average! Astronomers Say Milky Way Resides In A Great Cosmic Void". Forbes. Archived from the original on 13 May 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  14. "Hubble Sees Two Dwarf Galaxies in Pisces". Sci-News. 15 August 2016. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019.
  15. Tully, Brent. "The Local Void" (PDF). Institute for Astronomy. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 June 2018.
  16. Jenner, Lynn, ed. (10 June 2015). "Lonely Galaxy Lost in Space". NASA. Archived from the original on 17 June 2019.
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