Universe’s ‘Missing’ Matter. © ESA/XMM-Newton and ISAS/JAXA
Astronomers uncover the Universe‘s ‘missing’ matter in space by spotting a giant thread of hot gas connecting four galaxy clusters.
This massive strand is about 10 times heavier than our Milky Way and may hold some of the Universe’s missing normal matter, which makes up stars, planets, and people. Its discovery helps solve a mystery that’s puzzled scientists for decades.
The team used X-ray space telescopes from the European Space Agency (XMM-Newton) and Japan’s space agency (Suzaku) to detect it.
Scientists believe that more than a third of the normal matter in our local Universe is still unaccounted for. It’s invisible for now, but without it, our current models of how the Universe works don’t quite add up.
The filament is made up of hot intergalactic gas (shown in mottled black-yellow). © ESA/XMM-Newton and ISAS/JAXA
These models suggest this hidden matter may be hiding in huge strands of gas, called filaments, stretching between galaxy clusters. While filaments have been found before, they’re usually too faint to study clearly.
Now, researchers have managed to spot one of these filaments and also to measure its properties in detail. The newly discovered filament connects four galaxy clusters nearby, and it may be one of the first clear examples of where this missing matter is hiding.
source ESA
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