Space: New Dark Matter Map Created for Big Galaxies

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New Dark Matter Map Created for Big Galaxies
Live Science | Space | Mike Walls | 2011 Jan 13

[size=90]Model prediction of what the four images of the background quasar RXJ 1131-1231 should look like, as lensed by an intervening galaxy (left). Chandra X-ray observations show a strong anomaly in the middle of the three images on the left side of the panel (right). [i](Credit: D. Pooley (Eureka Scientific))[/i][/size]

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Researchers have mapped out mysterious dark matter in a sample of huge galaxies, determining where the strange stuff resides and how much of it there is.

Dark matter is thought to make up much of the universe but remains invisible to astronomers. Its existence is inferred by its gravitational effects, which can be measured.

Astronomers made the map by studying how the faraway galaxies bend light thrown off from even more distant objects. The results could yield insights about galaxy formation as well as the nature of dark matter, researchers said. [Image of map]

"This is one of the most direct measurements of the amount of dark matter at a specific location in a galaxy," said study lead author David Pooley, of Eureka Scientific, Inc., in a statement. Pooley presented the results today (Jan. 13) here at the 217th meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

Astronomers Map Out Dark Matter in Massive Galaxies
David Pooley | AAS 217 Press Release | 2011 Jan 13

• Press presentation: PDF
  Scientific presentation: PDF