When we look up at the night sky, the Milky Way stretches across like a shimmering river of stars. It feels like the vast universe itself—but in truth, our home system is just a tiny piece in a much larger cosmic puzzle.

Have you ever wondered if there’s something even bigger than the Milky Way? As it turns out, there is—galaxies so huge they make ours look small. Today, let’s dive into this fascinating cosmic story together.

How Big Is Our Milky Way?

The Milky Way is enormous by everyday standards. It spans roughly 180,000 light-years across, containing hundreds of billions of stars, including our own sun. At its core lies a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A*, weighing around four million times the sun’s mass. This black hole holds the system together, pulling stars in its grip. Despite its size, the Milky Way is only one stellar system among billions scattered across the universe.

The Arkonyus System: A Giant Among Giants

Now, imagine a system of stars that stretches about 16.3 million light-years across—that’s Arkonyus. This colossal structure is nearly 90 times wider than the Milky Way! To put it in perspective, if the Milky Way were the size of a dinner plate, Arkonyus would be as large as a stadium. It's so massive that even Andromeda—the largest system in our local group—looks tiny beside it.

How Did Arkonyus Get So Big?

The universe is constantly changing. Galaxies grow mainly by merging with others. Collisions between galaxies may sound dramatic, but they are quite common. Over billions of years, galaxies crash into each other and combine, adding their stars, gas, and dark matter into a larger system.

Our Milky Way has also undergone many such mergers, which helped shape its structure and size. Arkonyus, however, formed early in the history of the universe and had much more time to absorb smaller galaxies. This long history of merging created its massive size.

What Keeps Such a Massive System Together?

Arkonyus is not just big—it has a massive black hole at its center, weighing about 400 million times the sun. This black hole’s gravity is incredibly strong, pulling in stars and material to form the system’s core. Despite its enormous size, Arkonyus stays together because of this central black hole’s gravitational grip.

Unlike stars, galaxies don’t collapse under their own gravity. Their stars are spread out in loose formations. So, while Arkonyus is huge, it’s not dense enough to collapse or turn into a black hole itself.

Other Massive Structures in the Universe

Even Arkonyus isn’t the largest structure we know. The universe contains superclusters—vast groups of galaxies linked by gravity. For example, the Laniakea Supercluster, which holds our Milky Way, contains around 100,000 galaxies stretched across 520 million light-years.

Beyond that, gigantic structures like the Hercules-Corona Borealis Wall extend hundreds of billions of light-years, nearly the size of the observable universe itself. These huge cosmic formations show us that space is far bigger and more complex than we might imagine.

The Limits of What We Can See

One thing that might surprise us is that we can’t see everything in the universe. Because the universe is expanding faster than light in some places, light from the most distant galaxies may never reach us. This means there might be even larger galaxies or structures out there, but they’ll remain forever out of our view.

This limitation is a bit sad, but it also reminds us how much mystery still surrounds us. The unknown pushes us to keep exploring and learning.

Why This Matters to Us

Learning about galaxies bigger than the Milky Way gives us a fresh perspective on our place in the universe. We live in a tiny corner of an unimaginably vast cosmos. Yet, it’s from this tiny spot that life and intelligence have emerged.

This thought is both humbling and inspiring. It means that even though we are small, we have the power to understand and explore the universe’s secrets. With better telescopes and technology, we keep pushing the boundaries of what we know.

Focusing on the Big and the Small

While huge galaxies and superclusters are exciting, we shouldn’t forget the smaller but equally important parts of the universe: stars, planets, black holes, and other celestial objects. Their interactions create the colorful and dynamic universe we see.

Every star, including our sun, plays a role in the cosmic story. Understanding the big picture means also appreciating these smaller pieces.

Looking Forward: Our Cosmic Adventure

The discovery of the Arkonyus system and other giants encourages us to keep searching. There’s so much more out there waiting to be found. Even if we never see everything directly, we can keep piecing together the puzzle through science.

So, let’s treasure the chance to explore and learn about the universe. Our Milky Way may be small compared to giants like Arkonyus, but it’s our home, and through it, we connect with the vast cosmos.

Dear Lykkers, what do you think about living in such a huge universe? Have you ever dreamed about the stars out there, far beyond where we live? Share your thoughts with us—we’re all part of this amazing cosmic journey!