"The models were right": astronomers find 'missing' matter
a year ago
- #astronomy
- #dark-matter
- #cosmology
- Astronomers discovered a massive filament of hot gas connecting four galaxy clusters, potentially containing some of the Universe's 'missing' matter.
- The filament, 10 times as massive as the Milky Way, was found using XMM-Newton and Suzaku X-ray telescopes.
- This discovery supports cosmological models suggesting 'missing' matter exists in gas filaments between dense regions of space.
- The filament is part of the Shapley Supercluster, stretching 23 million light-years and containing extreme structures like galaxy clusters.
- XMM-Newton and Suzaku worked together to map the filament and remove contaminating X-ray sources, confirming the filament's properties.
- The findings validate decades of simulations and the standard model of the cosmos, reinforcing the idea of a 'cosmic web'.
- ESA's Euclid mission aims to further explore the cosmic web, dark matter, and dark energy to solve cosmic mysteries.