Most normal matter in the universe isn’t found in planets, stars or galaxies – an astronomer explains where it’s distributed

By: Chris Impey, University of Arizona, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: December 4, 2025

Words: 1,277

Last Updated: 1 month, 1 week ago

Body Text Preview

By Chris Impey, University of Arizona

If you look across space with a telescope, you’ll see countless galaxies, most of which host large central black holes, billions of stars and their attendant planets. The universe teems with huge, spectacular objects, and it might seem like these massive objects should hold most of the universe’s matter.

But the Big Bang theory predicts that about 5% of the universe’s contents should be atoms made of protons, neutrons …

Create a free account to access this story and more

Join Plucky Wire to access full stories, collaborate with newsrooms, and discover content from networks around the world.

Email Us