Long filaments of hydrogen are found in intergalactic space and are the key to unraveling how the universe came to be.
Although there are vast distances between objects in space, they are not isolated islands in a sea of darkness. Available models of the universe suggest that there is a vast network of dark matter whose fibers fill the aforementioned distances and connect galaxies or star clusters. Along these filaments, which were brought together under the influence of gravity in the early stages of the universe, hydrogen from the thin intergalactic space collects and flows, which simultaneously serves as the material for the formation of new stars. Until now, however, mankind has observed this network only around the brightest objects, such as quasars, but this is changing thanks to a new discovery.
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Cosmic web
Caltech astrophysicist Christopher Martin’s team built a special instrument to monitor the very faint Lyman alpha emission. In other words, Martin was looking for the spectral signature of hydrogen, which absorbs and re-emits light. Located at the WM Keck Observatory on Maunakea Island, Hawaii, the Keck Cosmic Web Imager has been used to allow scientists to read different wavelengths of light from each other or directly compare spectral signatures. Thanks to this, a map of the structure in which hydrogen (and also dark matter) is located can be created by reading different images.
Of course, Martin and his team spent a long time testing whether the device and the entire concept would work. Already in 2019, however, the team of scientists had prepared the results of detailed simulations, which indicated the possibility of real use in the search for the cosmic web. There is now a three-dimensional map of the described light emissions that traveled to us for 10-12 billion years. This is the period when the entire universe was in the initial stages of its formation after the big bang approximately 13.8 billion years ago. Thanks to this, scientists have a chance to find out how the matter in the universe came together and to verify whether current theories or studies about the origin of the universe are really valid.
Source: Science Alert, Nature Astronomy
2023-10-07 04:00:00
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