Enhanced Measurement of Cosmic Structures and Intergalactic Medium
A team of European scientists has improved the quantification of the warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) and cosmic filaments using data from the eROSITA X-ray instrument. These cosmic filaments, which are vast structures of hot, diffuse gas, contain about 50% of the universe's baryonic mass. The study, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, involved analyzing X-ray emissions from nearly 8,000 filaments to determine their temperature and baryon density contrast. The findings align with numerical simulations and are expected to enhance understanding of the WHIM as future X-ray missions explore its properties further.