Scale: 10²⁵ meters = 10 Ym = 10 yottameters (~1 billion light years)

The Largest Structures

Current research indicates that there may be structure in the universe larger than clusters and superclusters of galaxies. There appear to be vast volumes of space with few galaxies, surrounded by bubbles of clusters of galaxies. Imagine enormous soap bubbles with most galaxies and clusters forming the surface of the bubbles while the inside of the bubble is nearly devoid of galaxies. Computer simulations of the early universe also tend to indicate a clumping of matter along the surface of large shells.

This image represents current ideas about how the universe appears on a large scale. The patches of light are clusters and superclusters of galaxies. Consider that the Milky Way is 100 000 light years in diameter and that one pixel represents more than 10 times that distance. The universe is about 10 to 15 times larger in every dimension than the image shown here. However, we must stop our outward journey here. At the next power of ten we might have to display the curvature of the universe.