Universe: identify the most elusive things

Astronomical research through observation of the cosmic network has revealed some of the more elusive things in the universe. Under this a gas diffuse and warm inside filament from 40 million from light years between two galaxy clusters. Galaxies are generators of most visible light, containing less than 10% of all atoms in the cosmos. The remaining matter is in the cosmic network as a diffuse gas, it has a density equal to only one atom per cubic foot of space. In practice, much less than the highest vacuum level ever reached on planet Earth.

It is difficult to detect the gas, given its high thinness: a problem defined as missing baryon. Nevertheless, astronomers have discovered elusive atoms. The gas in the filament was observed to lose the CMB light. The filament gas appears to contain 50 billion times the mass of the Milky Way or 50 billion suns. The results initially focused on missing baryons in a group of galaxies. It was then determined how this gas is distributed in the special zones of the cosmic network.

PhD student Martine Lokken of U of T’s Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics used the data to identify the 1000 galaxy clusters. They live in regions of the universe with warmer-than-average gas filaments. Lokken found that gas in clusters and filaments propagated away from clusters. The latter should consist of large amounts of diffuse gas.

Our work demonstrates a new way to study gas in the cosmic web. Taking into account all the so-called “missing baryons” is one of the most important tasks facing us cosmologists. Our directional cosmic gas studies are a new way to explore this problem and other questions about the origin of our universe.

Martine Lokken