Here, there, everywhere. We have to call it something, don't we? Who's got an idea? Let's call it Toponymy.

11.03.2006

Why isn't there a better name for this?


Astronomers call it "the blob" or "giant blob" and it is the most massive thing in the universe known to man.

You have never really seen "the blob," it is too dim for the naked human eye. Even so, it's not much worth looking at. You would think that a galaxy cluster over 200 light years in width would be pretty remarkable, right? Well it is, but not for its looks. "The Blob" is one of the oldest structures in the universe, it formed 12.7 billion years ago. Astronomers also speculate that this cluster is something like a nursery for whole galaxies.


Previously known structures with such high density are much smaller, only about 50 million light-years across. "The densest regions in the universe are the places where galaxies are thought to have formed first. Because this is one of the biggest structures known, it must be one of the very first to have formed," said Philip Best, an astronomer at the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh in the U.K.

In any case, I'm calling on anybody who can read this to think of a better name for this awe-inspiring, mysterious part of our universe. After all, I think we can do a lot better than these old blobs.

Thanks to Seed Magazine for their blurb about "the blob" in their last issue.

No comments: