Could this discovery account for what is labeled dark matter? If so, does this begin to explain dark energy?
If the size and mass of this gas halo is confirmed, it also could be an explanation for what is known as the "missing baryon" problem for the galaxy....Measurements of extremely distant gas halos and galaxies indicate the baryonic matter present when the universe was only a few billion years old represented about one-sixth the mass and density of the existing unobservable, or dark, matter. In the current epoch, about 10 billion years later, a census of the baryons present in stars and gas in our galaxy and nearby galaxies shows at least half the baryons are unaccounted for.
NASA - NASA's Chandra Shows Milky Way is Surrounded by Halo of Hot Gas
NASA - Exploring the Invisible Universe: Chandra X-ray Observatory