Missing Baryons Found in Far-Out Reaches of Galactic Halos Berkeley Lab physicists play key role in studies that solve a cosmological mystery March 16, 2021 20 Shares A new study has found that a share of particles that has been challenging to locate is most likely sprinkled across the distant bounds of galaxy halos. The study found some of these particles of baryonic matter are located up to 6 million light-years from their galactic centers. This color-rendered image shows the halo of the Andromeda galaxy, which is the Milky Way’s largest galactic neighbor. (Credit: NASA) By Glenn Roberts Jr. Researchers have channeled the universe’s earliest light – a relic of the universe’s formation known as the cosmic microwave background (CMB) – to solve a missing-matter mystery and learn new things about galaxy formation. Their work could also help us to better understand dark energy and test Einstein’s theory of general relativity by providing new details about the rate at which galaxies are moving toward us or away from us.