Astronomer Dr Robert Braun of the CSIRO Astronomy and Space
Science in Australia has discovered that today’s Universe
contains more atomic hydrogen gas than previously thought. A new
study provides the first accurate measurement of this gas in
galaxies close to our own. Just after the Big Bang the
Universe’s matter was almost entirely hydrogen atoms. Over time
this gas of atoms came together and generated galaxies, stars
and planets — and the process is still going on. Astronomers
want to understand where, when and how the atomic gas is
transformed to better understand the Universe in which we live.
By taking a new look at some archival data, Dr Braun has found
that galaxies around us are hiding about a third more atomic
hydrogen gas than previously calculated. The finding will appear
in the Astrophysical Journal. The research also shows that the
gas is distributed very differently from how it was in the past,
with much less in the galaxies’ outer suburbs than billions of
years ago. “This means that it’s much