Galaxy clusters and cosmology

Galaxy clusters are the largest coherent objects in Universe. It has been known since 1933 that their dynamical properties require either a modification of the theory of gravity, or the presence of a dominant component of unseen material of unknown nature. Clusters still provide the best laboratories for studying the amount and distribution of this dark matter relative to the material which can be observed directly -- the galaxies themselves and the hot,X-ray-emitting gas which lies between them.Imaging and spectroscopy of clusters by satellite-borne X -ray telescopes has greatly improved our knowledge of the structure and composition of this intergalactic medium. The results permit a number of new approaches to some fundamental cosmological questions,but current indications from the data are contradictory. The observed irregularity of real clusters seems to imply recent formation epochs which would require a universe with approximately the critical density. On the other hand, the large baryon fraction observed in clusters seems inconsistent with the standard interpretation of light element the mean density of the Universe is about 20571130f the critical value.