Scientists have stumbled upon an incredible new discovery that could have tremendous implications for understanding our universe.

Using the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton X-ray observatory, the scientists were able to find three huge filaments of hot gas that was apparently flowing toward a cluster of galaxies, according to a Space Daily report.

Galaxies tend to clump together into clusters, creating the largest cosmic structures known in the universe. They are often filled with hot gas and huge quantities of dark matter, invisible to the human eye.

It’s an indication that a huge filamentary network links these galaxies and galaxy clusters, creating a sort of cosmic skeleton that can be found throughout the universe.

It’s also been referred to as a “cosmic” web with all of these galaxies tied together, and it may be dark matter with some ordinary matter that consists of most of this web, based on computer simulations by scientists.

This new study using ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray observatory has found a bunch of these filaments consisting of galaxies, gas, and dark matter that appear to be flowing toward one of the largest galaxy clusters in the universe. It’s a significant find because it represents the first time that scientists have detected gas in the cosmic web.

The scientists made the finding by examining Abell 2744, often called the Pandora Cluster, which is made up of merging galaxies. It provided scientists a direct glimpse into the cosmic web and how it creates a structure in the universe.

The scientists were able to pinpoint five large structures of hot gas that appeared to link to Abell 2744’s core.

The scientists made the findings by measuring the density and temperatures of the gas and comparing it to predictions of its theory on the cosmic web. They found that the measurements of the gas and the galaxies and the filaments appeared to agree with those predictions.