Scientists may be closing in on part of the universe's long-standing missing matter problem. According to the report, some of the ordinary matter that should exist appears to be sitting between galaxies instead of inside them.
This missing material is not dark matter, but normal matter — the kind that makes up stars, planets, gas and people. The description notes that the total amount of ordinary matter detected has been far below what researchers expect, with only about one-tenth accounted for.
The new idea is that a chunk of that matter was forcefully expelled from galaxies and pushed into intergalactic space. Researchers say the process seems to have been much more violent than predictions suggested, indicating galaxies may be far more effective at throwing material outward than earlier models assumed.
If confirmed, the finding would help explain where some of the universe's unseen ordinary matter has been hiding. It also points to the space between galaxies as an important place to look when tracing how matter moves and how galaxies evolve over time.
