Astronomers say we may live at the center of a cosmic void 2 billion light-years wide that defies the laws of cosmology

Jessica Orwig and Ellyn Lapointe
May 15, 2024, 12:00 PM CDT



New research suggests our galaxy sits right near the center of the KBC void, an expanse of relatively empty space that's 2 billion light-years wide. Pablo Carlos Budassi / Wikimedia Commons

• Evidence suggests that our galaxy is inside a cosmic void, a vast expanse of relatively empty space.
  
  
• But according to our laws of cosmology, this void shouldn't exist.
  
  
• New research says such a void may explain unusual behavior in nearby galaxies. ]/ul]
  Our home galaxy, the Milky Way, is just one of billions in our universe. So, in the grand scheme of things, we're not so special. But zoom in to our local cosmic neighborhood, and that story begins to change.
  
  A growing list of observations suggests we live in the crosshairs of a giant cosmic void — the largest ever observed. Astronomers first suggested such a void in 2013 and evidence for its existence has been stacking up ever since.
  
  But the kicker is that this giant void shouldn't exist in the first place. If it does exist, that means something is probably amiss with our understanding of the cosmos.
  
  We may live in a void that shouldn't exist
  
  
  
  A map of our local universe. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
  
  According to a fundamental theory of cosmology named the cosmological principle, matter in the universe should be uniformly distributed on very large scales.
  
  More:
  https://www.businessinsider.com/we-live-inside-cosmic-void-breaks-cosmology-laws-2024-5