Intergalactic Metal

The largest known reservoir of rare metals has been discovered, and it's really far away

Known for its resistance to corrosion, the steel-gray heavy metal chromium is a common ingredient in a wide variety of industrial products, from cookware and cutlery to chrome-plated motorcycle tailpipes. A form of chromium affects sugar metabolism in humans and a lack of it may cause a particular disease -- chromium deficiency.

Next to chromium on the periodic table is manganese, another important metal. Used in stainless steel, unleaded gasoline and batteries, manganese is also an essential trace nutrient found in all life forms.

These metals have been detected in stars in our Milky Way and in other galaxies.

But now, for the first time, chromium and manganese have been detected between galaxies -- in so-called "intergalactic space." And the amount they have found is astonishing.

Using the Suzaku orbiting X-ray observatory, a joint operation of NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), astronomers studying the central region of the Perseus galaxy cluster discovered "the largest known reservoir of rare metals in the universe," according to a recent NASA press release.

"The portion of the cluster within Suzaku's field of view is some 1.4 million light-years across, or roughly one-fifth of the cluster's total width," states the NASA release. "It contains a staggering amount of metal atoms. The chromium is 30 million times the sun's mass, or 10 trillion times Earth's mass. The manganese reservoir weighs in at about 8 million solar masses."

As to how these metals are formed, NASA explains, "Exploding stars, or supernovas, forge the heavy elements. The supernovas also create vast outflows, called superwinds. These galactic gusts transport heavy elements into the intergalactic void."

Scientists are hailing the discovery as furthering our understanding of the chemical history of stars, but seeing as the Perseus cluster is 225 million light-years away, it is impossible to mine what NASA has called a "treasure trove of intergalactic metal."

Too bad. That would plate a lot of motorcycle tailpipes.

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image: This image from the Japanese Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics shows the X-ray glow of the 100-million-degree Fahrenheit gas that fills the Perseus cluster. The white box indicates the area explored by the Suzaku X-ray telescope to detect chromium and manganese. The image is about two degrees wide, or four times the apparent width of a full moon. (image credit: JAXA)