MEMORY ALPHA – SECTOR 001 – In a discovery likely to be taught at the Vulcan Science Academy for centuries, Federation astrophysicists have confirmed the whereabouts of the long-theorized “missing baryons” — the elusive ordinary matter that, until recently, had stubbornly refused to be catalogued by any tricorder, telescope, or long-range subspace ping.
Using a series of millisecond radio pulses known as Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), a team led by Dr. Liam Con’nor of the Denobulan Astronomy Guild mapped diffuse clouds of baryonic particles dispersed throughout the intergalactic medium. The technique hinges on a principle known as plasma dispersion, wherein different frequencies of radio light are slowed at varying rates depending on the density of matter they encounter. “It’s like shouting across a fog bank,” Con’nor explained. “Only the echo tells you just how thick the mist really is.”
The team utilized the Deep Synoptic Array, a ring of 110 synchronized radio telescopes orbiting New Berlin, as well as inputs from Federation planetary observatories on Tellar Prime and Vulcan. A total of 69 FRBs were observed, ranging from just over 10 million to nearly 9 billion light-years away. The farthest, dubbed FRB 7751-Gamma-Beta, now holds the record for the most distant blinking light ever used to weigh the cosmos.
Their findings reveal that roughly 76% of ordinary baryonic matter is not within starships, moons, or latte machines, but rather suspended as hot, low-density gas throughout the vast stretches between galaxies. Another 15% resides in galactic halos, while only a meager portion remains within star systems. “This confirms that galactic feedback — from things like warp-core implosions and supernovae — is blasting material into the cosmic web,” said Dr. Vikram R’avi, co-author of the study and lead observer at the Palomar Outpost.
The implications are vast. Not only does this settle the “Missing Baryon Problem” that has haunted the Federation Science Council since the 21st century, but it also provides a new tool for mapping the large-scale structure of the universe. Plans are already underway to construct a new radio telescope array on Vulcan’s Forge Plateau, one capable of tracing over 10,000 FRBs annually. As Dr. R’avi put it, “With each blink, the galaxy whispers its secrets. We just had to learn how to listen.”
