Missing space matter found in cosmic web
Thursday, May 22, 2008
RESEARCHERS say they have found about half of the universe's missing matter hidden in the spaces between billions of galaxies thanks to the Hubble telescope.
This normal matter, which is called baryons, was created during and after the Big Bang, and should not be confused with dark matter, researchers said.
"We think we are seeing the strands of a web-like structure that forms the backbone of the universe," said astronomer Mike Shull of the University of Colorado after an extensive search of the local universe.
"What we are confirming in detail is that intergalactic space, which intuitively might seem to be empty, is in fact the reservoir for most of the normal, baryonic matter in the universe."
The research, published in last Tuesday's Astrophysical Journal, sought to answer the question of where the missing local normal matter had gone and what its properties are.
The analysis is the most detailed observation to date of such matter and how it looks within about four billion light years of Earth.
Researchers used the light from 28 qasars, the brilliant hearts of distant galaxies which still have a black hole at their centre, in order to illuminate these structures, a bit like torches shining on fog.
Using the space telescope imaging spectograph on board the Hubble and Nasa's far ultraviolet spectroscopic explorer (FUSE), they found hot gas and spectral "fingerprints" of intervening oxygen and hydrogen superimposed on the light from the qasars.
Normal matter makes up about five times the matter of the universe, while dark matter accounts for about 25 per cent.
AFP
This normal matter, which is called baryons, was created during and after the Big Bang, and should not be confused with dark matter, researchers said.
"We think we are seeing the strands of a web-like structure that forms the backbone of the universe," said astronomer Mike Shull of the University of Colorado after an extensive search of the local universe.
"What we are confirming in detail is that intergalactic space, which intuitively might seem to be empty, is in fact the reservoir for most of the normal, baryonic matter in the universe."
The research, published in last Tuesday's Astrophysical Journal, sought to answer the question of where the missing local normal matter had gone and what its properties are.
The analysis is the most detailed observation to date of such matter and how it looks within about four billion light years of Earth.
Researchers used the light from 28 qasars, the brilliant hearts of distant galaxies which still have a black hole at their centre, in order to illuminate these structures, a bit like torches shining on fog.
Using the space telescope imaging spectograph on board the Hubble and Nasa's far ultraviolet spectroscopic explorer (FUSE), they found hot gas and spectral "fingerprints" of intervening oxygen and hydrogen superimposed on the light from the qasars.
Normal matter makes up about five times the matter of the universe, while dark matter accounts for about 25 per cent.
AFP
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