The universe contains substantially more atomic hydrogen – the fuel that keeps stars burning – than previously thought according to new research conducted by the CSIRO.

 

CSIRO astronomer Dr Robert Braun conducted the first accurate measurement of the gas in galaxies close to our own.

 

The gas, which formed in the aftermath of the big bang, is responsible for the formation of galaxies and, if we get a better idea of what forms the gas, will provide a clearer picture of how the universe was formed.

 

The study also shows that the gas is distributed very differently from how it was in the past, with much less in the galaxies' outer suburbs than billions of years ago.

 

"This means that it's much harder for galaxies to pull the gas in and form new stars," Dr Braun said.

 

"It's why stars are forming 20 times more slowly now than in the past."

 

The new finding doesn’t help solve the problem of "Dark Matter" — lots of mass, detectable by its gravity, that we haven't yet identified.

 

"Even though there’s more atomic hydrogen than we thought, it's not a big enough percentage to solve the Dark Matter problem. If what we are missing had the weight of a large kangaroo, what we have found would have the weight of a small echidna," Dr Braun said.