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On July 13, astronauts aboard the International Space Station deployed a mini-satellite, a CubeSat, that would study the Milky Way's halo in search of the missing matter of the universe
. the "normal" material constituting the universe. Estimates drawn from the oldest light in the universe, while it was only 400,000 years since the Big Bang, indicate that the normal matter constituting galaxies, stars and planets only represents than five percent of the universe. The rest goes to invisible dark matter (25%) and dark energy (70%) – an unknown form of energy that penetrates all the space and accelerates the expansion of the # 39; universe.
This five percent might seem a little less anything encompbading everything we see around or observe from our telescopes, but the fact is that it's so mbadive that we, Earthmen, have not still fully taken into account all this,
Hundreds of thousands of years after the birth of the universe, natural matter formed the gas, stars, planets and whole galaxies. It has evolved into what we see today, but according to current mbad estimates, it is just half of what should be present.
"We should have everything we had today when the universe was 400,000 years old." Kaaret, HaloSat's principal investigator, said in a statement. "Where did it go?"
Scientists have long believed that the missing material could be present in hot gas located in the space between galaxies or in galactic halos – the extended region surrounding galaxies. The theory has not been proven, but the recently launched mini-satellite could provide a critical glimpse into studying the halo of our galaxy.
Essentially, the HaloSat will measure intense X-rays emanating from heated gas up to a whopping 2 million degrees Celsius (3.6 million degrees Fahrenheit) in the galactic halo. Unlike other X-ray telescopes, it will capture a wider view of the halo – about 100 square degrees at a time – and will use the data collected to confirm whether it is spherical or shaped like a rocket. fried egg.
"If you think of The galactic halo in the fried egg model, it will have a different distribution of brightness when you look directly from the Earth than when you look at wider angles," he said. added Keith Jahoda, a co-investigator HaloSat. "If it is of near-spherical shape, compared to the dimensions of the galaxy, then we expect it to be more or less the same in all directions. "
Once the form determined, scientists can use it to calculate HaloSat will take a total of 90 minutes to complete a single orbit of the Earth, but observations will be made only when it is on the night side This will help scientists to filter the X-rays of the solar wind that have the same spectral signature that they are trying to find and that will leave enough time to charge the solar panels and transmit them. collected data.
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