When we talk about the universe we immediately think of a dark immensity. Sailing towards that blue and unknown horizon we cross the atmosphere, we condition our breathing to go further and we find ourselves in an infinite cluster of galactic elements. Stars, planets, cosmic dust, galaxies, etc., all in different sizes, colors and shapes. But then what is the greatest thing that exists in the universe?
Although much remains to be explored and space has given us few clues about its composition, science has found something that is possibly considered the largest in the cosmos.
The UY Scuti is the largest star ever known. This star could house about 1,700 times our Sun and is 30 times larger than the king star. However, not everything in the universe is defined by mass and size.
As we travel a little further into space, we find black holes. Although these cosmic and physical phenomena are not essentially palpable for humans, we know that they exist and rest in galaxies.
Exploring black holes and the biggest thing in the universe
For example, in the Milky Way lies a supermassive that has four million times the mass of the Sun. However, science has recorded another phenomenon in the universe that is much larger.
The black hole recognized as NGC 4889 lives in a giant elliptical galaxy, which is located about 320 million light years from Earth. This hole is about 21 billion times the mass of the Sun and this would make it, so far, the largest thing in the universe.
The answer is yes and you probably already know it. This is where galaxies appear, although it is difficult to determine their size because they do not really seem to have defined limits. Despite this, experts have ventured to define the largest and found the galaxy IC 1101, which is 50 times larger than it and has a diameter of approximately 5.5 million light years.
Now we have a clearer idea of how immense the cosmos is. But, we may not yet know exactly what the largest thing that inhabits the universe is. Do you have any idea?