Credit: Pixabay / CC0 Public Domain
Astrophysicists believe that about 70% of the ordinary matter created by stars, planets and galaxies cannot be found hidden in the form of hot gas in the complex cosmic web. Today, scientists at the Institut de Astrophysics Spatial (CNRS / University of Paris-Secale) have, for the first time, discovered this hidden matter through an innovative statistical analysis of 20-year-old data. Their findings are published in November 6, 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics.
The galaxies are distributed in the form of a complex network of nodes connected by galaxies, which in turn are separated by voids. This is known as the cosmic web. Filaments are thought to contain almost all the common (so-called baryonic) matter in the universe in the form of diffused, hot gases. However, the signal emitted by this diffuse gas is so weak that in reality 40 to 50% of baryons are detected.
These are the missing baryons, hidden in the filamentary structure of the cosmic web, that the Institut d’Astrophysical Spatial (CNRS / University of Paris-Sacle) and researcher Hideki Tanimura, together with them, are in the fibrous structure of the web of the universe. Colleagues, trying to find out. In a new study funded by the ERC Bypok project, they present a statistical analysis that shows, for the first time, X-ray emissions from hot baryons in filaments.
The probe is based on stacked X-ray signals, in the Rosette 2 survey data, from about 15,000 large-scale cosmic filaments identified in the SSS3 Galaxy survey. The team used the spatial correlation between the position of the filaments and the associated X-ray emission to provide evidence of the presence of hot gas in the cosmic web and measured its temperature for the first time.
These findings confirm a previous analysis by a similar research team based on an indirect investigation of hot gas in the cosmic web by its effect on the cosmic microwave background. This paves the way for more detailed studies, using more quality data, to test the evolution of gases in the filamentous structure of the cosmic web.
Scientists began pinging the hidden web that characterizes the universe
H. T. Tanimura et al. The first investigation of stacked X-ray emissions from cosmic web filaments, Astronomy and Astrophysics (2020). DOI: 10.1051 / 0004-6361 / 202038521
Testimonial: Has the hidden matter of the universe been discovered? (2020, November 6) From November 6, 2020 https://phys.org/news/2020-11-hided-universe.html
This document is subject to copyright copyright. In addition to any reasonable transaction for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without written permission. Content provided for informational purposes only.
