Astronomers Found 90% of the Universe's Matter: Where It Has Been Hiding for Decades.

According to ТСН: Decades ago, scientists discovered that ordinary matter, which makes up everything visible on Earth and in space, constitutes only 10% of the mass of the Universe. However, researchers did not know where the majority of this matter was located.

According to the Big Bang theory, about 5% of the Universe's content is ordinary, or baryonic, matter, which consists of atoms with protons, neutrons, and electrons. Stars, it turns out, contain only about 0.5% of all the matter in the Universe.

Places Where Matter Accumulates

The most likely 'storehouse' turned out to be the dark space between galaxies. Although there is a notion of a vacuum, the intergalactic medium is actually filled with an extremely sparse but very hot gas that forms a filamentary structure known as the cosmic web.

Using Fast Radio Bursts

Astronomers have for the first time used mysterious yet powerful energy explosions called fast radio bursts to detect the missing ordinary matter of the Universe. Most ordinary matter was too dark for observation, so fast radio bursts provided the necessary light background.

Fast radio bursts are powerful emissions of radiation and energy that can be seen in the radio spectrum. Although these bursts last only milliseconds, in that short time, they release as much energy as the Sun produces in 30 years.

Astronomers' Conclusions

Scientists have found that approximately 90% of the ordinary matter in the Universe is hidden in the space between galaxies. The other 10% of ordinary matter is concentrated within galaxies, forming stars and cold galactic gas.

Previously, it was reported that scientists believe that dark energy is weakening and that the expansion of the Universe is slowing down.

Thus, the new discovery about the hidden ordinary matter opens new horizons for research in cosmology. The study of dark matter and energy remains a key issue for understanding the structure and evolution of the Universe.