An international team of astronomers has announced the discovery of a large-scale structure composed of at least 20 massive galaxies. This structure, referred to as the "Cosmic Vine," spans approximately 13 million light-years. Massive and dense galactic structures are seen as precursors to galaxy clusters, which are the largest gravitationally bound systems in the universe. Therefore, the discovery and detailed study of such new structures are essential for our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution.
A group of astronomers led by Shouwen Jin from the Technical University of Denmark has now discovered a new structure of this kind, which is a large structure resembling a "vine," hence the name "Cosmic Vine." Observations show that the "Cosmic Vine" is an extremely long and large structure, measuring about 13.04 million light-years in length and 0.65 million light-years in width. As a result, this structure is much larger than other compact galaxy clusters and primordial clusters at redshifts above 3.0. The "Cosmic Vine" consists of at least 20 massive galaxies and six galaxies with increased density, contributing to a total mass of 260 billion solar masses.
