hydrogen gas tagged posts

Experiments point the way to solving mystery that keeps clusters hot. Galaxies rarely live alone. Instead, dozens to thousands are drawn together by gravity, forming vast clusters that are the largest objects in the universe.

“Galaxy clusters are one of the most awe-inspiring things in the universe,” said Prof. Emeritus Don Lamb, a University of Chicago astrophysicist and co-author on a new paper published March 9 – one that may point the way towards solving a decades-long mystery.

Scientists have long known that the hydrogen gas in galaxy clusters is searingly hot – about 10 million degrees Kelvin, or roughly t...

An all-sky map showing the radial velocity of neutral hydrogen gas belonging to the high-velocity clouds of the Milky Way and two neighboring galaxies, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. Credit: ICRAR

An Australian scientist has created the most detailed map ever of clouds of high-velocity gas in the Universe around us. The map covers the entire sky and shows curious clouds of neutral hydrogen gas that are moving at a different speed to the normal rotation of the Milky Way. It was created by astronomer Dr Tobias Westmeier, University of Western Australia node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, and published in the leading journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Dr Westmeier said the map suggests that at least 13% of the sky is covered by high-v...