warm-hot intergalactic medium

noun

A sparse warm-to-hot (10⁵ to 10⁷ K) plasma that cosmologists believe to exist in the spaces between galaxies and to contain 40–50% of the baryons in the universe at the current epoch.

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Meanings

nounwarm–hot intergalactic medium (uncountable)

alternative WHIM

  1. uncountableastronomyA sparse warm-to-hot (10⁵ to 10⁷ K) plasma that cosmologists believe to exist in the spaces between galaxies and to contain 40–50% of the baryons in the universe at the current epoch.
Cite this entry
APA

warm-hot intergalactic medium. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/warm-hot%20intergalactic%20medium

MLA

“warm-hot intergalactic medium.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/warm-hot%20intergalactic%20medium. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “warm-hot intergalactic medium,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/warm-hot%20intergalactic%20medium.

Source: warm-hot intergalactic medium on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.