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Missing matter found in the cosmic web

The location of nearly half of the ordinary matter in the Universe is unknown. X-ray observations suggest that this elusive ‘baryonic’ matter is hidden in the filamentary structure of the cosmic web.
  1. Taotao Fang

    1. Taotao Fang is in the Department of Astronomy and the Jiujiang Research Institute, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005, China.

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We live in a dark Universe: just 5% of it consists of ordinary matter such as that found in atoms, whereas the rest is ‘dark’ matter and energy that cannot currently be detected directly1. However, observations of the nearby Universe suggest that up to 40% of this ordinary matter — which is made up primarily of particles known as baryons — is missing2–5. Baryonic matter is thought to be distributed through the Universe like a cosmic web, and the missing baryons are predicted to be located in the filamentary structures that connect the web, and in intergalactic space4. In a paper in Nature, Nicastro et al.6 report the detection of the X-ray absorption signatures of baryons in the spectra of a bright background object. The findings might finally reveal a major reservoir for baryonic matter.

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Nature 558, 375-376 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05432-2

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