Astronomers discover long-lost half of universe’s regular matter in nearly invisible ionized hydrogen gas around galaxies.
A team of astronomers has made a groundbreaking discovery that could change our understanding of the universe. Using advanced simulations and observations, they have found what is believed to be the missing half of the universe’s regular matter – normal matter, unlike dark matter. This material was thought to exist in nearly invisible ionized hydrogen gas surrounding galaxies.
The researchers used images of 7 million luminous red galaxies from within 8 billion light-years of our Milky Way. They stacked these images and searched for evidence of the “Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect,” which is caused by electrons scattering cosmic microwave background radiation.
By analyzing this data, the team found that the supermassive black holes at the center of many galaxies may spew gas up to five times further than previously thought. This discovery has significant implications for our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution.
According to Dr. Boryana Hadzhiyska, “We think that once we go further away from the galaxy, we recover all of the missing gas.” The findings suggest that this material is not just confined to galaxies but may be widespread throughout the universe.
This discovery has far-reaching consequences for cosmological models and our understanding of the large-scale structure of the universe. The team’s research also provides a new window into the early universe, offering potential insights into its formation and evolution.
The study will be published in the journal Physics Research Letters, providing further insight into this groundbreaking discovery.
Source: https://www.newsweek.com/space-astronomy-hidden-matter-ionized-hydrogen-cmb-2060047