The Biggest Known Galaxy Is 1.7 Million Light-Years, And We Can't Comprehend The Scale
Astronomers have determined that the galaxy IC 1101 is approximately 1.7 million light-years across, making it the largest galaxy currently known. The study used deep observations to map the galaxy's stellar body, which is significantly larger than previous estimates.
Why it matters
This discovery refines our understanding of galactic scale and the structural limits of the universe.
Add ScienceAlert on Google IC 1101 is much bigger than previous estimates suggested. (C. Marrero de la Rosa et al.; data: Isaac Newton Telescope (INT/ING)) The Universe can pull some wild monkeyshines, especially when it comes to scale.
From giant black holes to massive sheet-like walls of galaxies , our reality is full of mind-boggling chonkers.
But a galaxy named IC 1101 is bonkers in a way that dramatically exceeds the upper end of normal.
Using the deepest observations yet of IC 1101, astronomers have made the strongest measurement to date of its physical extent, identifying the boundary of its main stellar body some 260 kiloparsecs from its center.
That makes it around 1.7 million light-years across – which makes it, according to a team led by astrophysicist Carlos Marrero de la Rosa of Spain's Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, the largest galaxy known to date.
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