Missing Ordinary Matter Reunited: Diffuse Gas Envelopes Galaxies and Clusters
Using thousands of fast radio burst measurements, researchers mapped where ordinary (baryonic) matter resides and found widespread, diffuse gas surrounding galaxies and galaxy clusters. This diffuse gas accounts for the universe’s missing baryons, extending up to about 4 million light-years from galaxies and suggesting energetic processes like black hole jets fling baryons far beyond visible halos, which helps reconcile observations with current astrophysical models.