Astronomers find universe’s “missing” matter after long search

 Hey, Space Placers!

Artist's conception depicts a bright pulse of radio waves

    This artist’s conception depicts a bright pulse of radio waves (the FRB) on its journey through the fog between galaxies, known as the intergalactic medium. Long wavelengths, shown in red, are slowed down compared to shorter, bluer wavelengths, allowing astronomers to “weigh” the otherwise invisible ordinary matter. Credit: Melissa Weiss/CfA, via COSMOS.

BIG STORY 

Astronomers have found the "missing" matter they have been searching for spanning decades. This is "regular" matter - the stuff that makes up you, me, stars, galaxies and now - the intergalactic medium (IgM). The IgM comprises 76% of normal matter, 15% is in galactic halos and the remainder is the stuff of stars and cold galactic gas.

This is NOT "dark matter" which holds galaxies together and comprises about 25% of all matter in the Universe. Our normal matter is just 5% of the total with dark energy making up the remaining 70%.

This discovery was made using Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) whose light has to travel across space through the IgM.

Fascinating....

Sky Guy in VA

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