Missing matter found in deep space

Reuters on Yahoo ^ | 5/20/08 | Maggie Fox

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Astronomers have found some matter that had been missing in deep space and say it is strung along web-like filaments that form the backbone of the universe.

The ethereal strands of hydrogen and oxygen atoms could account for up to half the matter that scientists knew must be there but simply could not see, the researchers reported on Tuesday.

Scientists have long known there is far more matter in the universe than can be accounted for by visible galaxies and stars. Not only is there invisible baryonic matter -- the protons and neutrons that make up atoms -- but there also is an even larger amount of invisible "dark" matter.

Now about half of the missing baryonic matter has turned up, seen by the orbiting Hubble space telescope and NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer, or FUSE.

"We think we are seeing the strands of a web-like structure that forms the backbone of the universe," said Mike Shull of the University of Colorado, who helped lead the study published in The Astrophysical Journal.

The matter is spread as superheated oxygen and hydrogen in what looked like vast empty spaces between galaxies.

However, observations of a quasar -- a bright object far off in space -- show its light is diffused much as a lighthouse can reflect on a thin fog that was invisible in the dark.

"It is kind of like a spider web. The gravity of the spider web is what produced what we see," Shull said in a telephone interview. "It's very thin. Some of it is very hot gas, almost a million degrees."

This is where the dark matter comes in. The dark matter is heating up the gas, Shull said.

"Dark matter has gravity. It pulls the gas in," Shull said. "This causes what I call sonic booms -- shock waves. This shock heats it to a million degrees. That makes it even harder to see."

The atoms of oxygen are in a stripped-down, ionized form. Five of the eight electrons are gone. It emits an ultraviolet spectrum of light that instruments aboard FUSE and Hubble can spot, Shull said.

These web-like filaments of matter are the structure upon which the galaxies form, he said.

"So when we look at the distribution of galaxies on a very large scale, we see they are not uniform," Shull said. "They spread out in sheets and filaments."

Some faint dwarf galaxies or wisps of matter in these structures could be forming galaxies right now, the researchers said.

Shull and colleagues said these webs of hydrogen and oxygen are too hot to be seen in visible light and too cool to be seen in X-rays.

[NormsRevenge]

This illustration shows how the Hubble Space Telescope searches for missing baryons or normal matter, by looking at the light from quasars several billion light-years away. In an extensive search of the local universe, astronomers say they have definitively found about half of the missing normal matter, called baryons, in the spaces between the galaxies. (NASA/ESA/A. Feild - STScI/Handout/Reuters)

[KoRn]

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[samadams2000]

***WAY OVER HEAD ALERT***

[randog]

"...This shock heats it to a million degrees. That makes it even harder to see."

We need to educate the public--kids could touch it and get a nasty burn! Quick--give me a grant!

[ElkGroveDan]

I should put these guys to work trying to find the missing socks from my laundry.

[ExTexasRedhead]

“Missing Matter In Deep Space”

Could it be Liberal brain cells that are missing at birth??

[NYTexan]

Astronomers have found some matter that had been missing in deep space and say it is strung along web-like filaments

Those pesky Tholians are at it again!

[Joe 6-pack]

Probably looks a lot like this up close...

[B-Chan]

More likely old phone books.

[ConservativeMajority]

GOP backbone?

[steveo]

So it just “shows up” just after the statute of limitations expires?

[Towed_Jumper]

“***WAY OVER HEAD ALERT***”

If they found it then it’s no longer “missing”. Will astronomers have to give it a new name?

[jongaltsr]

Big Wow from one freeper !

It just so happens I built the rocket harness and avionics guidance boards for that particular research "sounder" rocket for CASA (Colorado Astrophysics Space Administration).
I was present when they installed the FUSE camera system and mirrors and when they put in the companion (toy soldier) in the nose section for good luck. It was strapped in with tie wraps and the weight distribution had to not unballance the payload.

[Carpe Cerevisi]

I know how you feel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHI-foSNccA

[beelzepug]

“...the missing socks from my laundry...”

My first thought exactly.

[SampleMan]

They also found billions of missing socks.

[SampleMan]

Darn it, you beat me to it.

[jongaltsr]

Follow up.

For those who want a little history on the fuse project.....

A couple of years earlier one of the people alligning the scope and camera system happen to set it on a spot that gave them a broad heave spectrum which they could not explain. Normally if you aim at any section of space you will see peaks and valleys but this was maxed out and completele (and I do mean completely) across the entire spectrum.

He noted the location in space and when back to research why THAT spot alone would give such a spectrum signature. Somewhere along the line he (I don't know who "he" was)found out that others were looking for just such a signauture so the rocket was born.

I beleive this one was launched from Womera Austrailia. I know that 1 of the 2 rockets that I worked on was launched from there and the other from White Sands.

[devane617]

Wonder if is my underwear and socks?