2007/11/30 by X. Barcons
Physics and Astronomy · #Absorption (acoustics) #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Baryon #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Intergalactic dust #Intergalactic medium #Intergalactic travel #Limit (mathematics) #Physics #Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology #Redshift #Reionization #Universe #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1002/asna.200710893
Proceedings of the "XMM-Newton: the next decade", to appear in Astronomische Nachrichten
arxiv created 2007/11/30 · openalex publication_date 2008/02/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Abstract At low redshift ( z < 2), almost half of the baryons in the Universe are not found in bound structures like galaxies and clusters and therefore most likely reside in a Warm‐Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM), as predicted by simulations. Attempts to detect WHIM filaments at cosmological distances in absorption towards bright background sources have yielded controversial results that I review here. I argue that a secure detection of absorption features by the WHIM is at the limit of the XMM‐Newton capabilities, but feasible. A proper characterisation of the whole WHIM belongs to the realm of future X‐ray missions. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)