Physics

Scientists calculate how much matter there is in the universe

View 3 Images
The galaxy cluster Abel 2163, similar to the ones analyzed in the new study to calculate the total amount of matter in the universe
ESA/Hubble & NASA
The galaxy cluster Abel 2163, similar to the ones analyzed in the new study to calculate the total amount of matter in the universe
ESA/Hubble & NASA
Simulations of galaxy cluster formations, starting with different amounts of matter – by checking which version most closely matches real observations, astronomers can determine the most likely amount of matter in the universe
UCR/Mohamed Abdullah
A breakdown of the contents of the universe
UCR/Mohamed Abdullah
View gallery - 3 images

Scientists have now estimated the total amount of matter in the universe, using a new, more precise method. By calculating the mass of hundreds of galaxy clusters, the team found that matter makes up less than a third of the contents of the universe.

Everything we see around us and interact with in our everyday lives actually only makes up a tiny fraction of what’s in the cosmos. It’s long been understood that there’s a roughly 32/68 split between matter and energy, and even within that minority of matter, most of it is “dark”. Regular (or baryonic) matter only accounts for around five percent of everything.

The new calculation, conducted by a team of scientists led by the University of California, Riverside, fine tunes that ever so slightly. According to the study, matter makes up about 31.5 percent of the total contents of the universe. The remaining 68.5 percent is dark energy, a mysterious force that seems to be driving the acceleration of the expansion of the universe.

“To put that amount of matter in context, if all the matter in the universe were spread out evenly across space, it would correspond to an average mass density equal to only about six hydrogen atoms per cubic meter,” says Mohamed Abdullah, first author of the study. “However, since we know 80 percent of matter is actually dark matter, in reality, most of this matter consists not of hydrogen atoms but rather of a type of matter which cosmologists don’t yet understand.”

A breakdown of the contents of the universe
UCR/Mohamed Abdullah

To reach their conclusion, the researchers developed a new tool called GalWeight, which allows them to calculate the mass of a cluster of galaxies by measuring the orbits of the individual galaxies. Applying this to 756 clusters in data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the team can then compare the results to simulations of how galaxy clusters form. Those simulations start with different amounts of matter, so by seeing which simulated conditions most closely match the observations, they can determine the most likely amount of matter the universe contains.

Simulations of galaxy cluster formations, starting with different amounts of matter – by checking which version most closely matches real observations, astronomers can determine the most likely amount of matter in the universe
UCR/Mohamed Abdullah

“We have succeeded in making one of the most precise measurements ever made using the galaxy cluster technique,” says Gillian Wilson, co-author of the study. “Moreover, this is the first use of the galaxy orbit technique which has obtained a value in agreement with those obtained by teams who used noncluster techniques such as cosmic microwave background anisotropies, baryon acoustic oscillations, Type Ia supernovae, or gravitational lensing.”

While this information might not matter (pun intended) to most people, understanding the evolution of the universe could eventually help us finally uncover the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy.

The research was published in the Astrophysical Journal.

Source: University of California, Riverside

View gallery - 3 images
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Flipboard
  • LinkedIn
7 comments
Douglas Tooley
Is the mass of black holes included in this estimation?
NZRalphy
There really is a whole heap of nothing out there!!
Nobody
Calculating to a tenth of a percent and using a simulation that agrees with their preconceived ideas. They must have missed class when they talked about significant digits and scientific method.
ARF!
lololol what a ridiculously narrow-minded notion that borders on straight up stupidity; that was already claimed multiple times before as well, and each and every time afterwards stuff happened, like that one dark matter experiment a few years back that found an astronomically astounding amount of baryonic matter instead, making those cosmologists and astrophysicists look like flat-minded idiots no better than raving mad doomsdayers!!
Don Duncan
Since the 'verse is endless, the matter/energy content is also.
Pmeon
The concept of infinity is extremely difficult for humans to understand, hence the limited size theory of the big bang universe. Interesting how the so called expanding universe grows as new space based telescopes come on line. Check out who came up with the big bang theory and then ask, is astronomy a science or a religion.
Eugene Steppe
Respectfully, it's absolute ignorance to make a statement of fact or reference mathematically as to any aspect of what's in the cosmos or the universe other than what can be observed by the human eye and our telescopes, and made aware in their/our collective brains, however I now know that light decays and transforms into dark matter which pushes all matter about. Although dark matter travels and moves between the stars and planets in shadowy niches it's the dark matter that's in control and who is also subject to wave lengths. Once we humans collectively realize this only then can we use dark matter to travel the distances in presto time. All that is comes from rock, which came from gases which came from the big bang, again, again and again. Carbon can be burned again and again and again, each time growing smaller, perhaps endlessly and forever. This leads to endless redundancy for life and is the precise logical reason gods have been invented to keep us sane.