What Happens in Intergalactic Space?

Pedro_P

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Intergalactic space is more than just an empty void.
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▼ The vast voids between galaxies can stretch millions of light-years across and may appear empty. But these spaces actually contain more matter than the galaxies themselves.
"If you took a cubic meter, there would be less than one atom in it," Michael Shull, an astronomer at the University of Colorado Boulder, told Live Science. "But when you add it all up, it's somewhere between 50 and 80% of all the ordinary matter out there."undefined
So, where did all this matter come from? And what's it up to?
The matter between galaxies — often called the intergalactic medium, or IGM for short — is mostly hot, ionized hydrogen (hydrogen that has lost its electron) with bits of heavier elements such as carbon, oxygen and silicon thrown in. While these elements typically don't glow bright enough to be seen directly, scientists know they're there because of the signature they leave on light that passes by.
In the 1960s, astronomers first discovered  quasars— incredibly bright and active galaxies in the distant universe — and shortly thereafter, they noticed that the light from the quasars had missing pieces. These pieces had been absorbed by something in between the quasar and the astronomers' telescopes — this was the gas of the IGM. In the decades since, astronomers have discovered vast webs and filaments of gas and heavy elements that collectively contain more matter than all the galaxies combined. Some of this gas was likely left over from the Big Bang, but the heavier elementshint that some of it comes from old stardust, spewed  out by galaxies.
While the most-remote regions of the IGM will be eternally isolated from neighboring galaxies as the universe expands, more "suburban" regions play an important role in galaxy life.  (▪ ▪ ▪)

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themaskeditor

This is correct theoretically, the vacuum actually contains invisible gaseous matter.  This is also called a invisible matter. Some scientists are also working to using the invisible hydrogen to convert it into fuel for intergalactic travel. If we are able to harness the energy from invisible matter then we could get 1 step closer to becoming in GOD Mode.

asr335704

After reading the article, I am given to understand is that IGM (primarily consisting of hot ionized Hydrogen) is an important matter and it is essential for star formation in galaxies.

With more space research, our brilliant scientists should be able to provide further result on this theory.