An international team of researchers is set to release the most detailed map of dark matter to date, offering new evidence supporting its crucial role in the universe’s formation. The findings,to be published Monday in Nature Astronomy,are based on observations from the James Webb Space Telescope and represent a significant leap forward in understanding this elusive substance that makes up roughly 85% of the universe’s mass. This new map promises to refine our understanding of cosmic structures and potentially unlock further secrets about the evolution of galaxies – and even the conditions necesary for life.
An international team of researchers is set to unveil on Monday, January 26, 2025, the highest-resolution map to date of dark matter, bolstering the theory that it served as the primary architect of the universe. The findings, published in Nature Astronomy, offer unprecedented insight into the invisible forces shaping the cosmos.
The map was created using observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (a collaboration between the European, Canadian, and NASA space agencies). Analysis of the data reveals that dark matter dictated the large-scale distribution of galaxies as we see them today. This discovery is significant as it provides further evidence for the standard model of cosmology.
The study was jointly led by researchers from Durham University in the UK, the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland), and NASA.
Dark Matter as the Universe’s Architect
Scientists believe that in the early universe, dark matter first clumped together, subsequently attracting normal matter and creating the regions where stars and galaxies began to form – and eventually, planets. Understanding the role of dark matter is crucial to unraveling the mysteries of cosmic evolution.
Researchers suggest that without dark matter, our own Milky Way galaxy might lack the elements necessary for the emergence of life on Earth.
“By revealing dark matter with unprecedented precision, our map shows how an invisible component of the universe has structured visible matter to the point of allowing galaxies, stars, and ultimately, life itself to emerge,” said Gavin Leroy of Durham University, one of the study’s authors.
“This map reveals the invisible but essential role of dark matter, the true architect of the universe, gradually organizing the structures we observe through our telescopes,” added a researcher in a statement.
An Invisible Component That Passes Through Matter
The work also confirms that dark matter does not emit, reflect, absorb, or block light, and “passes through normal matter like a ghost.” This characteristic makes it incredibly difficult to detect directly, requiring scientists to rely on indirect methods like gravitational lensing.
Remarkably, despite its ghostly nature, dark matter interacts with the rest of the universe through gravity, having attracted normal matter throughout cosmic history.
“There are billions of dark matter particles passing through our bodies every second. They cause no harm, don’t perceive us, and simply continue on their way. But the entire cloud of dark matter surrounding the Milky Way has enough gravity to hold our entire galaxy together. Without dark matter, the Milky Way would fly apart,” Leroy explained.
255 Hours of Observation with the James Webb Telescope
The area covered by the new map is a section of the sky approximately 2.5 times larger than the full moon, located in the Sextans constellation.
The James Webb Telescope observed this region for 255 hours, identifying nearly 800,000 galaxies, many of which were detected for the first time. The scientific team then searched for dark matter by observing how its mass curves space itself.
The new map contains approximately ten times more galaxies than maps of the area made by ground-based observatories and twice as many as the Hubble Space Telescope.
“Until now, we’ve been seeing a blurry picture of dark matter. Now, thanks to the extraordinary resolution of the James Webb Telescope, we see the invisible structure of the universe in astonishing detail,” concluded Diana Scognamiglio, a NASA researcher and co-author of the study.
FEW (EFE, University of Durham, Nature Astronomy)
