Astronomers using the European Space Agency's (ESA) XMM-Newton and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Suzaku X-ray space telescopes have discovered a vast filament of hot gas. This filament connects four galaxy clusters in the nearby Universe. This finding addresses the long-standing mystery of 'missing' ordinary matter.
Approximately half of the normal matter in the Universe has been unaccounted for. Scientists theorized this matter exists in long, diffuse gas filaments between dense regions of space. These filaments are difficult to detect due to their faintness and proximity to other celestial objects.
The observations successfully identified and characterized a single filament of hot gas extending between four galaxy clusters. This provides direct evidence of the warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM), a key component of the cosmic web. The gas temperature ranges from 10 to 20 million degrees Celsius, cooler than the cores of galaxy clusters.
This discovery confirms the existence of the missing baryons and improves our understanding of the Universe's large-scale structure and evolution. Future missions, like ESA's Athena X-ray telescope, will provide more detailed surveys. This will further elucidate the distribution and properties of these elusive filaments.
This breakthrough highlights the importance of international collaboration. ESA and JAXA's combined expertise and resources helped unravel the cosmos' mysteries.