Space oddity: European probe finds missing matter

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

PARIS (AFP) — An orbital X-ray telescope has found a chunk of matter in the universe whose existence had long been theorised but evidence for which had been lacking, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Wednesday.

The discovery made by ESA's XMM-Newton telescope is part of so-called baryonic matter, which comprises less than five percent of the cosmos.

Most of the universe consists of matter and energy of an unknown nature, which astrophysicists call "dark" and which is believed to be distributed in a web-like structure.

"Dark energy," which causes an accelerated expansion of the universe after the Big Bang that created it, accounts for some 72 percent of the total, and "dark matter" -- heavy particles still waiting to be discovered -- accounts for around...