In a groundbreaking discovery, astronomers have identified a colossal filament of hot gas, stretching 23 million light-years, that connects four galaxy clusters within the Shapley Supercluster. This structure, containing ten times the mass of the Milky Way, is believed to be a significant component of the 'missing matter' in the universe. This finding offers compelling evidence for the existence of the cosmic web, a vast network of filaments that connects galaxies and galaxy clusters.
The research team, utilizing data from the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Suzaku X-ray space telescopes, was able to map the faint X-ray emissions from the hot gas within the filament. XMM-Newton helped to pinpoint and remove sources of X-ray emissions, such as supermassive black holes, allowing scientists to focus on the gas within the filament. The filament's temperature is an astounding 18 million degrees Fahrenheit (10 million degrees Celsius).
Understanding the Cosmic Web
This discovery provides strong support for existing models of the cosmos, which predict that a significant portion of the universe's 'missing matter' resides in these intergalactic filaments. The 'missing matter' refers to baryonic matter, the ordinary matter composed of protons, neutrons, and electrons that make up stars, planets, and galaxies. The discovery of this filament, which links four galaxy clusters, suggests that the densest structures in the universe are interconnected within a vast cosmic web.