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The cosmic web – ribbons of gas and dust that bind galaxies together – are the largest structures in the Universe, and a new study shows they are getting warmer over time.
Using a phenomenon known as the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect, astronomers discover that these tapes are three times hotter than eight billion years ago.
“By combining the latest data with a cutting-edge theoretical model, we were able to reveal how the temperature of the Universe evolved and how it was linked to the formation of the large-scale structure of the Universe,” Ryu Makiya, a researcher at the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU), explains.
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Surf the cosmic web
The cosmic web (sometimes called the cosmic web) arose as material connected to the first galaxies in the known Universe. As aggregation began, their gravitational influence became more pronounced, carrying even more gas.
“As the Universe evolves, gravity pulls dark matter and gas into space together into galaxies and clusters of galaxies. The resistance is violent, so violent that more and more gas is shocked and heated, “said Yi-Kuan Chiang, a researcher at Ohio State University’s Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics.
By measuring the temperatures of these intergalactic ribbons, it is possible to determine the temperature of the Universe during different eras. This is achieved through a process known as the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect.
The “echo” of the Big Bang can be seen today as the cosmic microwave background. Billions of years ago, like this one electromagnetic radiation it met hot electrons in the tapes, it gathered energy, and the gas became visible. The degree to which this effect occurs depends on the thermal pressure, which in turn is determined by the temperature of the electrons.
By determining the degree of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect, it is possible to determine the thermal pressure inside the gas, from which astrophysicists determine the temperature of the electrons.
Walking on the Planck
Details of the cosmic microwave background were provided by ESA’s Planck satellite. Remarks by galaxies comes from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). By combining data from both sky records, the astronomers were able to reconstruct the details of this intergalactic warming.
“To do this, we correlate eight sky intensity maps in the Planck and Infrared Astronomical Satellite missions with two million redshift spectroscopic references in the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys,” explain the researchers in The Astrophysical Journal.
The team found that the average temperature of the electrons inside these tapes has risen from 700,000 Kelvin eight billion years ago to around two million Kelvin today.
This heating was also found to be the result of the gas flowing into the tapes, as it is heated by shocks in collapsing structures.
“For 20 years we have been studying how to measure it using the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect. Now we have finally measured the temperature of the Universe, not only thanks to the remarkable advances in observational data, but also thanks to the efforts of brilliant young scientists such as Yi-Kuan Chiang and Ryu Makiya. This is very satisfying “ Eiichiro Komatsu, director of the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, said.
As time goes by, the ribbons of the cosmic web they are starting to be the warm place to hang out!
This article was originally published on The cosmic companion of James Maynard, founder and editor of The Cosmic Companion. He is a native of New England who became a desert mouse in Tucson, where he lives with his lovely wife, Nicole, and Max the Cat. You can read this original piece here.
Astronomy news with The Cosmic Companion it is also available as a weekly podcast, broadcast by all major podcast providers. Tune in every Tuesday for updates on the latest astronomy news and interviews with astronomers and other researchers working to uncover the nature of the Universe.
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