Beyond galaxies: what happens in intergalactic space?

When a probe is sent into space and leaves the Solar System, travels to a region called interstellar; This is all the space between the stars of a galaxy. If we think further, There is also an almost absolute vacuum of all the space that can be found between galaxies, small amounts of dust, gas and other cosmic debris.

Astronomers call this environment intergalactic space. Since the space between galaxies can extend millions of light-years, some of these regions may contain more matter than some galaxies. That is, although the amount of matter is small, the total amount is quite high due to the expansion of these regions.

The space between galaxies is now considered to be extremely important for astronomy, as researchers can find planets and other celestial bodies in these regions. This task is challenging in itself, but Studying the intergalactic medium can be even more complicated because of the millions of light-years of distance, the low density of matter, the lack of instruments, and other factors.

“If you took a cubic meter, there would be less than one atom in it. But when you add it all up, it’s between 50% and 80% of all common matter in existence. IGM is the gas that fuels star formation in galaxies. If the gas wasn’t already being pulled by gravity, star formation would slowly come to a halt as the gas progressed. [na galáxia] “If it ends,” said astronomer Michael Shull of the University of Colorado at Boulder (USA) in a message to his website. Live Science.

Studying this region can make many important contributions to science, such as helping to understand dark matter, the evolution of galaxies, and the distribution of gas, among others. To understand more about what intergalactic space is and what happens between galaxies, I have prepared a text containing information from astronomers and other experts in this field.

Beyond galaxies: intergalactic space

Despite being a vast void, studying the matter between galaxies, called the intergalactic medium (IGM), could be crucial to several areas of astronomy, scientists say. Majority Most of the matter in this region consists of hot ionized hydrogen and some heavy elements such as oxygen and silicon.

Not all of these can be observed directly, but researchers were able to detect them thanks to the signatures they leave in visible light. Typically, detection of these environments occurs through observation of quasars and gas filaments.

The density of material is usually highest near galaxies, but much lower in the middle of galaxies. Because these are extremely large distances, scientists describe intergalactic space as one of the closest environments to absolute vacuum. For example, It is located approximately 2.5 million light-years away between the Milky Way and Andromeda.

Current scientific measurements show that there is only one hydrogen atom per meter in the space between galaxies. However, the intergalactic medium may be approximately 10 to 100 times denser than the average density of the cosmos. IGM slowly accumulates near galaxies and is responsible for fueling the star formation process; this accretion occurs at the rate of one solar mass per year.

Scientists explain that stars are also found in the space between galaxies, which is why they are often called rogue or intergalactic stars.. They don’t know exactly how these cosmic objects got to the region, but they believe they got there after being ejected from their parent galaxies by black holes or galactic collisions.

Some experts suggest that there may be hundreds of stars scattered across intergalactic space and that we cannot observe them.. In a recent study, a group of researchers He suggested that there could be more than 650 such stars at the edge of the Milky Way, and that if we consider the entire universe, this number could go up to trillions..

“The intergalactic medium is the gas and plasma (a mixture of electrons and electrically charged atoms) found in the space between galaxies. It is extremely hot, reaching millions of degrees, but it is also very thin, only about one atom per foot. By comparison, the ’empty’ space between stars can contain 1,000 atoms per cubic foot. So while it is hot, it is dimmer than the stars and other light-emitting matter in galaxies,” NASA explains.

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