Research report 2017 - Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Ripples in Cosmic Web Measured Using Rare Double Quasars
Authors
Rorai, Alberto; Hennawi, Joseph F.; Onorbe, José
Departments
Galaxien und Kosmologie
Summary
Astronomers believe that matter in intergalactic space is distributed in a vast network of interconnected filamentary structures – the cosmic web. Nearly all the atoms in the Universe reside in this web, left over from the Big Bang. A team led by a team of the MPI for Astronomy has made the first measurements of small-scale fluctuations in the cosmic web just 2 billion years after the Big Bang. These measurements were enabled by a novel technique using pairs of quasars to probe the cosmic web along adjacent lines of sight. They promise to help astronomers reconstruct the epoch of reionization.