Hubble Survey Finds Missing Matter, Probes Intergalactic Web
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - 08:35
in Astronomy & Space
In the May 20 issue of the Astrophysical Journal, Charles Danforth and Mike Shull (University of Colorado, Boulder) report on Hubble STIS and FUSE observations taken along sight-lines to 28 quasars. Their analysis represents the most detailed look to-date at the intergalactic medium within about four billion light-years of Earth. The astronomers say they have definitively found about half of the missing normal matter, called baryons, in the space between the galaxies.