Jan 8 2001
From The Space Library
NASA astronomer Gerard M. Williger announced the discovery of a massive cluster of quasars and galaxies, a concentration presumed to be the largest structure ever observed in the universe. Collaborating with fellow NASA astronomers Luis E. Campusano, Roger G. Clowes, and Chris P. Haines, Williger had located the body approximately 6.5 billion light-years away from Earth, in the heart of the constellation Leo the Lion. Not prepared to state with certainty that the find was the largest ever discovered, Williger clarified, “We have found nothing bigger in the literature and nobody has brought to our attention anything bigger.” Moreover, he speculated that the enormous gathering of quasars might be “an artifact of the Big Bang.” Articles in scientific journals and in popular publications expressed excitement at the find. (New York Times, “Bigger Than A Breadbox, or Anything Else,” 8 January 2001; Reuters, “Quasars May Point To Universe’s Biggest Structure,” 8 January 2001.)
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