Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

Where are the baryons? Hide and seek in the Universe

Smita Mathur

Astronomy Department
Ohio State University

Astronomical observations show that most of the baryons have been missing in the recent history of the Universe. I will discuss this “missing baryon problem” and the theory of where they could be hiding. I will then discuss our effort to find the missing baryons using Chandra, HST and FUSE observatories and discuss their physical properties. I will also discuss the baryon census in our own neighborhood, the Local Group.