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In JWST’s impressive new matter map, blue blobs represent invisible dark matter. |Image source: NASA/STScI/J. DePasquale/A.Pagan
use James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Astronomers have mapped the largest portion of dark matter in the universe yet, deepening our understanding of how this mysterious substance shapes the cosmic landscape.
dark matter It’s notoriously difficult to study because it doesn’t interact with light. Astronomers can only detect it by observing its gravitational effect on baryons, or “ordinary” matter. Observations of these interactions suggest that there is about five times as much dark matter as normal matter in the universe.
The new study was published Jan. 26 in the journal natural astronomydrawing a patch of sky sextant constellation. Researchers pointed JWST at this space for 255 hours, building an image of its visible material, including stars, galaxies and cosmic dust. From these observations, they identified nearly 800,000 galaxies—10 times the number observed by ground-based telescopes in the same area and nearly twice the number discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Next, the team charted how the mass of invisible dark matter in the region distorts the space around it.
“Previously, we were seeing blurry pictures of dark matter,” Diana SkognamarioAn astrophysicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and co-lead author of the paper said in an article statement. “Now, we’re seeing the universe’s invisible scaffolding in stunning detail.”
Where do galaxies come from
Two maps showing the distribution of dark matter in the same area of the sky, created using data from the 2026 JWST (right) and the 2007 Hubble Telescope (left). Webb’s higher resolution provides new insights into how dark matter affects ordinary matter in the universe. |Image source: NASA/STScI/A. pagan
This detailed map could give scientists a better understanding of how dark matter shapes the evolution of the universe.
soon after big Bangdark matter and ordinary matter may be evenly distributed throughout space. But over time, dark matter began to clump together. This in turn pulls ordinary matter into increasingly denser regions, eventually gathering enough mass to trigger star formation.
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In this way, dark matter plays an important role in creating the universe’s current layout and distribution of matter. “This map provides stronger evidence that without dark matter, there might not be the elements for life in our galaxy,” said study co-authors. Jason Rhodesa senior research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a statement.
Skognamario and her team plan to continue mapping dark matter in the future. They plan to use NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space TelescopePlanned to launch later this year, the study area will be 4,400 times larger than the new study area. However, Roman’s dark matter map will be significantly less detailed than JWST’s.
