. 24/7 Space News .
A MATTER OF DARK UNDERSTANING - Part One
Click for full size image
Numerical simulation showing the distribution of dark matter in a large volume of the universe. The box shown spans a distance of about 1 billion light-years. The structures are displayed so that the brighter regions have a higher density (that is, more dark matter) than the darker regions.

The dark matter is concentrated into a web-like distribution of filaments that intersect at dense nodes where great clusters of galaxies are expected to form and become visible. At the rear of the cube (to the left), three blue disks represent three distant galaxies.

The yellow lines that cross the box represent light rays from those galaxies propagating through the universe. In the absence of intervening matter, the light would travel on straight lines but in the presence of matter, the paths of the rays are evidently deflected by the gravitational effects of the clumpy matter (the breaks in the yellow lines illustrate the light passing behind a clump of dark matter).

The light from a distant galaxy rarely encounters a clump of mass to strongly bend the light and cause an easily seen distortion. Instead the individual light rays suffer a series of small deflections such that an observer located at the front of the box (to the right), sees that the images of all the galaxies in some small patch of the sky, near to one of our test galaxies say, are all very slightly elongated in a common direction determined by the distribution of dark matter along that particular line of sight. This gravitational distortion is expected to be very small and requires a careful statistical treatment on many patches over the sky but has now been measured by the French team. Numerical simulation by S. Colombi IAP

Searching For Dark Matter Using Gravitational Lensing
 Kamuela - March 7, 2000 - Using state-of-the-art image analysis software, largely developed at the TERAPIX data analysis and processing center in Paris, the team was able to analyze the light from 200,000 very distant and faint galaxies, looking for the minute distortions that, in theory, should occur as the light passes through the gravitational fields of intervening dark matter.

Using this information the team has developed the first "map" of dark matter in that area of sky, allowing researchers to visualize how it condensed out of the early universe and distributed itself over the course of time.

The analysis has revealed the presence of a vast matrix of interconnected dark matter. The result is not only a significant technological feat, but also a major advance in astronomy and cosmology.

According to Dr. Greg Fahlman, Director of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, the results are but a preliminary view of what the future is promising.

"By 2002 we will have a new wide-field imaging camera on the telescope that will cover, with improved sensitivity, an area of sky 3 times greater than the current camera. This new instrument will greatly enhance our ability to map the cosmic distribution of dark matter," said Fahlman.

MegaCam, as this new camera is called, will provide astronomers with the data they need to develop significantly more accurate models of the universe.

"Our goal," Fahlman adds, "is to help create the first distribution maps of dark matter across the sky, similar to the distribution maps you currently see for galaxies."

  • Click For Part One Of This Report

    The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope is funded through the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), the Centre National de la Reserche Scientifique (CNRS) in France, and the University of Hawaii.

  • More images and information on this research
  • Intitut d'Astrophysique de Paris
  • Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Telephone

    SPACE SCIENCE
     illustration only Scientists Claim To Have Detected Dark Matter
     Stanford - February 28, 2000 - A group of researchers claim to have achieved the world's best discrimination in the search for dark matter, which some scientists think makes up more than 90 percent of the mass of the universe.


    SPACEDAILY HEADLINES
    Nov 02, 2006
  • Discovery Rolls Toward Launch
  • A Mission To Mars Part Two
  • Chinese Lunar Orbiter Prototype On Display At Air Show
  • Shuttle Astronauts to Install Ball Aerospace Instruments Aboard Hubble Space Telescope
  • Mikulski Applauds Hubble Announcement, Says Decision Is Right For America
  • To The Dawn Of Space
  • Lost In Space No More
  • Oxygen Regeneration Restored At ISS
  • ISRO Moots Manned Mission To Space
  • Indigenous Cryogenic Stage Successfully Tested
  • LAUNCH Becomes First Magazine For Hobby Rocketry And Commercial Space Travel Enthusiasts
  • NASA Gives Hubble Telescope A New Lease On Life
  • Shape Of Things To Come-On The Moon
  • Iran To Step-Up Sensitive Nuclear Activities
  • North Korea To Rejoin Talks On Nuclear Program
  • China The Anti-Superpower Or The Second Hyperpower
  • Bush Says China Saving Too Much Money
  • Explosion Blows Out Window At Paypal In Silicon Valley
  • Arctic Snap Wreaks Havoc Across Nordic Region
  • Global Map Shows New Patterns Of Extinction Risk
  • Microbes Compete With Animals For Food By Making It Stink
  • More Species In The Tropics Because Life Has Been There Longer
  • Scientists Setting Dollar Value For Ecosystem
  • Czech Temelin Nuclear Reactor Hit By Fuel Problem
  • Most Lakes Across China Polluted Or Emptied Out By Humans
  • UK To Push India And EU Over Climate Change Response
  • White House Dismisses Chart Of Iraq Sliding Toward Chaos
  • Iraq Not Lost Yet
  • Red Cross Unveils Mass Southern Africa AIDS Project
  • China's Dirty Secret


    Thanks for being here;
     We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

    With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

    Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

    If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
    SpaceDaily Contributor
    $5 Billed Once

    credit card or paypal
         		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
    $5 Billed Monthly

    paypal only














    • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.