Astronomers have discovered a colossal ring of galaxies, dubbed the Big Ring, which spans 1.3 billion light-years and challenges current cosmological models.

The structure, observed by a team led by Alexia Lopez from the University of Central Lancashire, was presented at the American Astronomical Society meeting and published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics.

Unlike known cosmic structures, the Big Ring and another nearby discovery, the Giant Arc, defy explanations within existing frameworks, as they are much larger than the theoretical limit of 1.2 billion light-years for structures.

While their exact nature remains uncertain, possibilities include links to Baryon Acoustic Oscillations or topological defects like cosmic strings, Science Alert has reported.

This discovery raises important questions about the evolution of the universe and our understanding of its large-scale structure.

Written by B.C. Begley