Tag Archive for 'Dark matter'

Star formation in dwarf galaxies can slowly ‘heat up’ the dark matter, pushing it outwards. The left image shows the hydrogen gas density of a simulated dwarf galaxy, viewed from above. The right image shows the same for a real dwarf galaxy, IC 1613. In the simulation, repeated gas inflow and outflow causes the gravitational field strength at the center of the dwarf to fluctuate. The dark matter responds to this by migrating out from the center of the galaxy, an effect known as ‘dark matter heating.’ Image credit: Read et al, doi: 10.1093/mnras/sty3404.

Astrophysicists Find First Observational Evidence for ‘Dark Matter Heating’

Jan 8, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of astrophysicists from the University of Surrey, Carnegie Mellon University and ETH Zürich has found evidence that dark matter...

The galaxy cluster Abell S1063 was observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope as part of the Frontier Fields Program. The huge mass of the cluster -- containing both baryonic matter and dark matter -- acts as cosmic magnification glass and deforms objects behind it. In the past astronomers used this gravitational lensing effect to calculate the distribution of dark matter in galaxy clusters. A more accurate and faster way, however, is to study the intracluster light (visible in blue), which follows the distribution of dark matter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / M. Montes, University of New South Wales.

Intracluster Light Illuminates Dark Matter in Galaxy Clusters

Dec 20, 2018 by News Staff

Dark matter is a mysterious substance that makes up about 85% of the matter in the Universe. It does not emit any kind of electromagnetic radiation and...

The current, widely recognized model of the Universe, called LambdaCDM, tells us nothing about what dark matter and dark energy are like physically. We only know about them because of the gravitational effects they have on other, observable matter. Dr. Farnes’ model offers a new explanation. Image credit: NASA / ESA / M. Livio / Hubble 20th Anniversary Team, STScI.

Negative-Mass Dark Fluid: Astonishing New Theory Could Explain Universe’s Missing 95%

Dec 5, 2018 by News Staff

The standard cosmological model known as LambdaCDM can only explain 5% of the observable Universe. The remaining 95% is famously made up almost entirely...

This artist’s impression shows the evolution of the Universe beginning with the Big Bang on the left followed by the appearance of the Cosmic Microwave Background. The formation of the first stars ends the cosmic dark ages, followed by the formation of galaxies. Image credit: M. Weiss / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Does Small Fraction of Dark Matter Particles Carry Electric Mini-Charge?

Jun 4, 2018 by News Staff

A duo of astrophysicists is proposing a new model for the invisible material that makes up most of the Universe: it’s possible that a small fraction...

This Hubble image shows the galaxy cluster MACS J1149.5+223, whose light has taken over 5 billion years to reach us. Highlighted is the position where the Icarus star appeared -- its image magnified by a factor 2,000 by gravitational microlensing. The spiral galaxy in which the star is located can be seen three times on the sky -- multiplied by strong gravitational lensing. Image credit: NASA / ESA / S. Rodney, John Hopkins University / FrontierSN Team / T. Treu, University of California Los Angeles / P. Kelly, University of California Berkeley / GLASS Team / J. Lotz, STScI / Frontier Fields Team / M. Postman, STScI / CLASH Team / Z. Levay, STScI.

Icarus Star: Hubble Spies Most Distant Star Ever Seen

Apr 3, 2018 by News Staff

A blue supergiant star nicknamed Icarus is so far away that its light has taken 9 billion years to reach our planet. It appears to us as it did when the...

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope took this image of NGC 1052-DF2 on November 16, 2017. Image credit: NASA / ESA / P. van Dokkum, Yale University.

Hubble Discovers Ultra-Diffuse Galaxy with Almost No Dark Matter

Mar 29, 2018 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have discovered a unique galaxy — the first of its kind — that appears to contain virtually...

This view shows the entire sky at energies greater than 1 GeV based on five years of data from the LAT instrument on NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope; the most prominent feature is the bright band of diffuse glow along the map’s center, which marks the central plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. Image credit: NASA / DOE / Fermi LAT Collaboration.

Mysterious Gamma-Ray Signal Comes from Ancient Stars at Milky Way’s Center

Mar 14, 2018 by News Staff

An international group of researchers has discovered that an anomalous gamma-ray signal from Milky Way’s center comes from 10 billion-year-old stars,...

Centaurus A. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble Space Telescope / ESO / Robert Gendler & Roberto Colombari.

Centaurus A’s Satellite Galaxies Move in Unexpected Ways

Feb 6, 2018 by News Staff

Several dwarf galaxies orbiting around a nearby elliptical galaxy called Centaurus A are rotating in synchrony around their host, to astronomers’ surprise....

Mysterious X-Ray Signal from Perseus Galaxy Cluster Points to Dark Matter

Dec 21, 2017 by News Staff

In 2014, a team of astrophysicists reported the detection of an unusual emission line in X-ray light from the Perseus cluster, a cluster of galaxies 240...

Artist’s impression of a pair of galaxies from the early Universe. Image credit: NRAO / AUI / NSF / D. Berry.

ALMA Finds Two Extremely Massive Star-Forming Galaxies in Very Early Universe

Dec 7, 2017 by News Staff

New observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) push back the epoch of massive-galaxy formation even further by identifying...

This image, taken with the Wide Field Imager camera on the 2.2-m MPG/ESO telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, shows the Sculptor dwarf galaxy. Image credit: ESO.

3D Motions of Stars in Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy Hint at Underlying Dark Matter

Nov 28, 2017 by News Staff

Based on the combination of data taken 12 years apart by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and ESA’s Gaia mission, astronomers have pinned down for...

HAWC map for the region around Geminga (about 815 light-years away in the constellation Gemini) and PSR B0656+14 (about 940 light-years away). Image credit: John Pretz.

Nearby Pulsars Shed Light on Origin of Excess Antimatter

Nov 17, 2017 by News Staff

Astrophysicists using the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory in Mexico have detected the extended emission of high-energy gamma...

This Hubble image shows the massive galaxy cluster Abell S1063. Image credit: NASA / ESA / J. Lotz, STScI.

Hubble Detects Wobbling Galaxies within Massive Galaxy Clusters

Oct 26, 2017 by News Staff

Galaxy clusters are among the most massive structures in the Universe. Every galaxy cluster contains a galaxy that is brighter than the other members,...

This artist’s conception illustrates one of the most primitive supermassive black holes known at the core of a young, star-rich galaxy. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Primordial Black Hole-Neutron Star Interactions May Have Helped to Forge Universe’s Heaviest Elements

Aug 7, 2017 by News Staff

In a paper to be published in the journal Physical Review Letters (arXiv.org preprint), Professor George Fuller of the University of California, San Diego,...

Slice through the celestial equator showing the radial component of the velocity field (in km per second). Blue regions are falling towards us and red regions are flying away from us. Galaxies of the SDSS main galaxy sample are overplotted. In the center of the slice, the infalling dynamics of the Sloan Great Wall, one of the largest structure of the known Universe, can be observed. Image credit: Leclercq et al.

Researchers Release New Maps of Dark Matter Dynamics

Jul 26, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of scientists has unveiled detailed maps of dark matter dynamics in the nearby Universe. The research is published in the Journal...

Dark matter filaments (shown in red) bridge the space between galaxies (shown in white) on this false color map. Image credit: Seth Epps & Michael Hudson, University of Waterloo.

Astronomers Create ‘Image’ of Dark Matter Bridge that Connects Galaxies

Apr 12, 2017 by News Staff

A duo of scientists at the University of Waterloo, Canada, has been able to capture the first composite image of a dark matter bridge that connects galaxies...

A present-day near-miss of two spiral galaxies NGC 5426 and NGC 5427, which may be comparable to the early flyby of the Andromeda galaxy past our own Milky Way Galaxy. Image credit: ESO.

Discovery Challenges Our Current Understanding of Gravity

Mar 16, 2017 by News Staff

Einstein’s theory of gravity may have to be rewritten, after a team of astronomers at the University of St Andrews discovered a 10-million-light-year-wide...

Schematic representation of rotating disc galaxies in the early Universe (right) and the present day (left). New VLT observations suggest that such massive star-forming disc galaxies in the early Universe were less influenced by dark matter (shown in red), as it was less concentrated. As a result the outer parts of distant galaxies rotate more slowly than comparable regions of galaxies in the local Universe. Image credit: ESO / L. Calçada.

Universe’s Early Galaxies Were Less Influenced by Dark Matter

Mar 15, 2017 by News Staff

New observations from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) indicate that massive, star-forming galaxies during the peak epoch of galaxy formation, 10 billion...

Abell 2744 takes on a ghostly look where total starlight has been artificially colored blue in this Hubble view. Image credit: NASA / ESA / IAC / HFF Team / STScI.

Astrophysicists Unveil Most Detailed Maps of Dark Matter to Date

Mar 2, 2017 by News Staff

A team of astrophysicists led by Yale Professor Priyamvada Natarajan has unveiled the most detailed maps to date of dark matter, offering a detailed case...

NASA’s Fermi telescope has detected a gamma-ray excess (shown in yellow-white) at the center of the Andromeda galaxy that’s similar to a signature Fermi previously detected at the center of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Scientists think the signal could be produced by a variety of processes, including a population of pulsars or even dark matter. Image credit: NASA / DOE / Fermi LAT Collaboration / Bill Schoening / Vanessa Harvey / REU Program / NOAO / AURA / NSF.

Fermi Finds Dark Matter Clues in Andromeda Galaxy

Feb 22, 2017 by News Staff

NASA’s Fermi telescope has detected a strong gamma-ray signal coming from the core of the Andromeda galaxy (also known as Messier 31) that could indicate...

«‹4 567 8 ›»