Astronomers have identified a massive filament of hot gas connecting four galaxy clusters, which could contain some of the universe’s long-missing matter. The discovery was made using data from the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton and Japan’s Suzaku X-ray space telescopes.
The universe is thought to be missing about one-third of its normal matter, which forms stars, planets, galaxies, and life. This matter is believed to reside in diffuse, thread-like structures of gas called filaments that span the densest regions of space. However, detecting these faint emissions has proven challenging due to their proximity to nearby sources like galaxies and black holes.
The new research successfully detects and characterizes a single hot gas filament connecting four galaxy clusters in the nearby universe. The filament holds about ten times the mass of the Milky Way and links two galaxy clusters at each end. It extends diagonally through the Shapley Supercluster, a vast assembly of over 8,000 galaxies.
The discovery was made by combining X-ray observations from XMM-Newton and Suzaku, as well as optical data from several others. The two X-ray telescopes were ideal partners, allowing researchers to identify and remove contaminating sources of X-rays, thus isolating the gas in the filament.
This finding sheds light on the nature of the cosmic web, a vast, invisible network of filaments that underpins the structure of the universe. It also validates decades of simulations and reinforces our standard model of the cosmos, suggesting that the missing matter may indeed be lurking in hard-to-see threads woven across the universe.
Source: https://scitechdaily.com/astronomers-find-universes-missing-matter