Scientists Discover Huge Filament of Hot Gas in Nearby Cosmos

Astronomers have found a massive filament of hot gas stretching across four galaxy clusters, shedding light on the “missing” matter that makes up our Universe. The discovery uses data from the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton and JAXA’s Suzaku space telescopes.

The cosmic web, a vast network of filaments and voids, is still not fully understood. Scientists have long suspected that the “missing” matter – estimated to make up one-third of normal matter in the local Universe – exists in long strings of gas or filaments bridging galaxy clusters.

This research uses X-ray observations from XMM-Newton and Suzaku to accurately characterise a single filament of hot gas, connecting four galaxy clusters within the Shapley Supercluster. The filament stretches 23 million light-years diagonally and contains 10 times the mass of the Milky Way.

Lead researcher Konstantinos Migkas notes that their results closely match predictions from leading models of the cosmos, validating decades of simulations. The discovery provides new insights into the nature of galaxy clusters, the cosmic web, and the elusive “missing” matter.

The research demonstrates a successful collaboration between telescopes and showcases a new approach to spotting faint filaments in the cosmic web. This finding has implications for future missions like ESA’s Euclid, which aims to explore the structure and history of the cosmic web, as well as unravel the mysteries of dark matter and energy.

Source: https://www.technology.org/2025/07/17/the-models-were-right-astronomers-find-missing-matter