The Digital Press

Astronomers have identified a massive, hot filament of ordinary matter linking four galaxy clusters in the Shapley Supercluster, helping solve the decades-old mystery of the universe's missing baryonic matter. This discovery confirms predictions from cosmological models about where the universe’s "missing" ordinary matter resides.

Why it matters: It resolves the missing baryon problem, confirming that ordinary matter exists in vast, faint filaments between galaxy clusters.

The big picture: The filament supports the cosmic web theory, showing how galaxies and matter are connected by large-scale structures formed since the universe’s early epochs.

Stunning stat: The filament is 23 million light-years long, 230 times our galaxy’s size, and 10 times more massive than the Milky Way.

Commenters say: Many emphasize this finding clarifies ordinary matter’s location but note it doesn’t reduce the mystery of dark matter, which remains undetected.