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Quasar Beam Unveils Hidden Matter In Universe

Quasar Beam Unveils Hidden Matter In Universe
Astronomers detected vast filaments of invisible hydrogen by using the light of a distant quasar (core of active galaxy) to probe the dark space between the galaxies. The Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph found the spectral "fingerprints" of highly ionized intervening oxygen (which is a tracer of the hydrogen) superimposed on the quasar's light. Slicing across billions of light-years of space, the quasar's brilliant beam penetrated at least four separate filaments of the invisible hydrogen laced with the telltale oxygen. This filamentary structure is throughout the universe, all the way out to the distance of the quasar. For simplification, this graphic isolates the filamentary structure to a specific location along the line of sight to the quasar.
  • Release Date
    May 3, 2000
  • Science Release
    Lost and Found: Hubble Finds Much of the Universe’s Missing Hydrogen
  • Credit
    John Godfrey (STScI)

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Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov