Half of 'Missing matter' found by Hubble telescope

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080521/sc_afp/spaceastronomyusWASHINGTON (AFP) - Researchers say they have found about half of the universe's missing matter hidden in the spaces between billions of galaxies thanks to the Hubble telescope.This normal matter, which is called baryons, was created during and after the Big Bang, and should not be confused with dark matter, researchers said."We think we are seeing the strands of a web-like structure that forms the backbone of the universe," said astronomer Mike Shull of the University of Colorado after an extensive search of the local universe."What we are confirming in detail is that intergalactic space, which intuitively might seem to be empty, is in fact the reservoir for most of the normal, baryonic matter in the universe."The research, published in Tuesday's Astrophysical Journal, sought to answer the question of where the missing local normal matter had gone and what its properties are.The analysis is the most detailed observation to date of such matter and how it looks within about four billion light years of Earth.Researchers used the light from 28 qasars, the brilliant hearts of distant galaxies which still have a black hole at their center, in order to illuminate these structures, a bit like torches shining on fog.Using the space telescope imaging spectograph on board the Hubble and NASA's far ultraviolet spectroscopic explorer (FUSE), they found hot gas and spectral "fingerprints" of intervening oxygen and hydrogen superimposed on the light from the qasars.Normal matter makes up about five times the matter of the universe, while dark matter accounts for about 25 percent.Probing this cosmic web of normal matter will be a task taken on by the new Cosmic Origins Spectograph (COS), due to be installed on the Hubble later this year."We predict that COS will find considerably more of the missing baryonic matter," said Shull."Our goal is to confirm the existence of the cosmic web by mapping its structure, measuring the amount of heavy metals found in it, and measuring its temperature. Studying the cosmic web gives us information on how galaxies built up over time."

Something that is necessary to point out is that this matter they've found isn't related to Dark Matter. I know some people who, when hearing this, will assume that this means half of what we were calling Dark Matter has been found.Previous models of the universe predicted a certain percentage of Baryonic matter (stuff like you and me and dust and stars and stuff) but only part of that predicted matter had been found. This plasma between the galaxies is a big chunk of what was missing from that. The predicted amount of Dark Matter hasn't changed.

I am wondering if further investigation will discover that we do not need dark matter at all. It's a nice piece to the puzzle though.

It's an unlikely outcome. Less than 10% of the universe is what we can see based on light and energy emitted. That would have to be A LOT of "missing matter" to just turn up lurking somehwre that wasn't emitting any form of radiation. At this point, I'd say there are two possibilities:1) Dark Matter and Dark Energy are very real things, despite our inability to classify it except by our inability to directly see it.2) Our current Theory of Gravitation is spectacularly wrong. The fact that the ToG works so well on the big scale would tend to argue against this possibility, but our present inability to rectify Relativity/Gravitation and Quantum mechanics would seem to argue FOR this possibility.Either way, it's an interesting field to be watching.

Actually, we already know what the missing matter and energy is. The Judeo-christian god is what's missing. The atheist baby eating bastards just don't want to admit this fact so they pulled "dark matter" and "dark energy" out of their arse.

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I'm trying to see things your way, but I can't put my head that far up my ass.

Ahh, of course. How could I have been so blind? It's obviously "better" for galaxies to spin faster than they should based on the observable matter they contain. It's just like driving a car, it's so much more fun to drive faster than the speed limit says you should. So, we can conclude form this that it is God's will that: "Faster is better."I'll try that line of reasoning next time I get a speeding ticket...it's part of my religious beliefs after all, and the First Amendment gives me the right to practice my religion.

Huh!?Is that a typo? Did they mean 5 percent of the matter?