Distant light might hold the key to why the universe is filled with matter

EVERYTHING we see and touch is made of matter but for the longest time scientists had no idea why it existed. Now they may have found an answer.

Messier 106 Image Credit & Copyright: R Jay Gabany Explanation: Close to the Great Bear (Ursa Major) and surrounded by the stars of the Hunting Dogs (Canes Venatici), this celestial wonder was discovered in 1781 by the metric French astronomer Pierre Mechain. Later, it was added to the catalog of his friend and colleague Charles Messier as M106. Modern deep telescopic views reveal it to be an island universe -- a spiral galaxy around 30 thousand light-years across located only about 21 million light-years beyond the stars of the Milky Way. Along with a bright central core, this colorful composite image highlights youthful blue star clusters and reddish stellar nurseries tracing the galaxy's spiral arms. It also shows off remarkable reddish jets of glowing hydrogen gas. In addition to small companion galaxy NGC 4248 (bottom right) background galaxies can be found scattered throughout the frame. M106 (aka NGC 4258) is a nearby example of the Seyfert class of active galaxies, seen across the spectrum from radio to x-rays. Active galaxies are believed to be powered by matter falling into a massive central black hole.

EVERYTHING we see, touch and experience is made up of matter but for the longest time scientists had no idea why it existed. Now they may have found an answer.

NASA’s Fermi space telescope has detected high-energy light linked to a magnetic field that existed soon after the big bang.

They hope that by examining the light, made up of gamma rays, they will be able to say for certain that there is more matter than anti-matter in the universe as well as discovering why this is the case, the Independent reported.

Black hole

Scientists have theorised that, shortly after the big bang, the universe had equal amounts of matter and anti-matter and that the two are the same but have opposite charges. Now there is very little anti-matter around and the universe is made up almost entirely of matter.

Scientists don’t know why this is the case but they are hoping the gamma rays could provide the answer.

The gamma rays are coming from far off sources, such as super-size black holes deep in the universe.

Scientists are trying to work out whether they showed evidence of being twisted up by magnetic forces which they think could be left over from the beginning of the universe. The gamma rays detected were twisted as predicted but what surprised scientists was that the twists were left-handed.

Artist's illustration of a powerful gamma-ray burst, the most powerful type of explosion in the universe.

Left-handed twists suggest the production of matter while right-hand twists are associated with anti-matter production. Earlier models had predicted that the early universe was by its nature given to producing anti-matter but these findings suggest the opposite, researchers said.

“We think the most likely candidate for why this is happening is the magnetic field. And then, if it is the magnetic field, then it seems most likely to me it’s going to be this matter-antimatter asymmetry,” said the lead researcher Tanmay Vachaspati in an interview with Space.com.

Mr Vachaspati added that there were other theories about what the information from the distant light was telling them and that more research was still needed to verify the theory.