First Ever Dark Matter Map Reveals New Insights into the Cosmos

Scientists have released the first map of dark matter of the cosmos. The map, which is the first of a series, was created with one of the world's most powerful digital cameras and is one of the largest contiguous maps created at this level of detail.

Dark matter, the mysterious substance that makes up about a quarter of the universe, is invisible to even the most sensitive astronomical instruments since it doesn't emit or block light. However, its effects can be seen by studying a phenomenon called gravitational lensing, the distortion that occurs when the gravitational pull of dark matter bends light around distant galaxies.

"We measured the barely perceptible distortions in the shapes of about 2 million galaxies to construct these new maps," said Vinu Vikram, one of the researchers, in a news release. "They are a testament not only to the sensitivity of the Dark Energy Camera, but also to the rigorous work by our lensing team to understand its sensitivity so well that we can get exacting results from it."

The dark matter map makes use of early DES observations and covers only about three percent of the area of sky that DES will document over its five-year mission. Eventually, scientists will be able to better test current cosmological theories by comparing the amount of dark and physical matter.

"Zooming into the maps, we have measured how dark matter envelops galaxies of different types and how together they evolve over cosmic time," said Chihway Chang, one of the researchers. "We are eager to use the new data coming in to make much stricter tests of theoretical models."

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