American scientists from the California Institute of Technology managed to photograph the cosmic network of gas flows connecting galaxies for the first time. This network is considered the largest structure in the Universe, but until recently it was almost invisible. To work published in the scientific journal Nature Astronomy
In 2014, astronomers photographed a section of the cosmic web for the first time using radiation from a distant quasar, a super-strong radiation source powered by a massive black hole. Now experts have managed to capture the light of the filaments themselves in deep space, 10 to 12 billion light years away from Earth.
Scientists say the new images could help them better understand how galaxies form and evolve over the ages.
According to cosmological simulations, more than 60% of the hydrogen produced in the Big Bang about 13.8 billion years ago collapsed into a layer and then fragmented into a network of cosmic filaments. These filaments connect galaxies and supply them with gas for growth and star formation.
Previous studies have also shown that galaxies form at the intersections of filaments.
Previously the James Webb Space Telescope for the first time caught The cores of the most distant galaxy cluster.