Boötes Void

[file:boovoid.png|right|thumb|259x259px|A map of the Boötes Void]
The Boötes Void is a roughly spherical region of space in the vicinity of the constellation Boötes. It contains just 60 galaxies, which is significantly fewer than the approximately 2,000 galaxies expected for an area of comparable size. With a radius of 62 megaparsecs, it is one of the largest known voids in the visible universe, and is often referred to as a "supervoid".
It was discovered in 1981 by astronomer Robert Kirshner as part of a survey of galactic redshift. Its center is located 700 million light-years from Earth, at right ascension and declination. [file:galaxy superclusters and galaxy Void (astronomy)|voids.png|right|thumb|260x260px|A map of galaxy voids]
The Hercules Superclusters are part of the near edge of the void.

Formation

The existence of the Boötes Void does not appear to conflict with the Lambda-cold dark matter (ΛCDM) model of cosmological evolution. It is hypothesized that the Boötes Void formed through the coalescence of smaller voids. This process may explain the presence of a limited number of galaxies within a roughly cylindrical region extending through the center of the void.