use of james webb space telescope (JWST), astronomers have mapped the largest chunk of dark matter in the universe to date, deepening our understanding of how this mysterious material shapes the cosmic landscape.
dark matter They are notoriously difficult to study because they do not interact with light. Astronomers can only detect it by observing the effect of gravity on baryonic matter, or “ordinary” matter. Observation of these interactions revealed that there is about five times as much dark matter as normal matter in the universe.
The researchers then graphed how the region’s invisible dark matter mass distorts the space around it.
“Before, we were seeing blurry images of dark matter.” Diana Scognamiglioastrophysicist NASACo-lead authors of the paper at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said: statement. “Now we are observing the invisible scaffolding of the universe in amazing detail.”
where do galaxies come from
This detailed map could help scientists better understand how dark matter has shaped the evolution of the universe.
Immediately after that, big bangdark matter and normal matter were probably evenly distributed throughout the universe. But over time, dark matter began to clump together. This drew ordinary matter into increasingly dense pockets, eventually amassing enough mass to trigger star formation.
In this way, dark matter contributed to the formation of the current configuration and matter distribution of the universe. “This map provides strong evidence that without dark matter, our galaxy may be devoid of the elements that enabled the emergence of life,” said study co-author jason rosesaid a senior researcher at JPL in a statement.
Scognamiglio and her team plan to continue mapping dark matter in the future. They’re going to use NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space TelescopeScheduled to begin later this year, the new study will examine an area 4,400 times larger than the region. However, Roman’s dark matter map is significantly less detailed than JWST’s map.
Sconamiglio, D., LeRoy, G., Harvey, D., Massey, R., Rose, J., Akins, H.B., Brinch, M., Berman, E., Casey, C.M., Dracos, N.B., Feist, A.L., Franco, M., Fang, L.W.H., Gozaliazul, G., He, Q., Hatamnia, H., Huff, E., Hogg, N.B., Ilbert, O., . . . Weaver, JR (2026) Ultra-high resolution maps of (dark) matter. natural astronomy. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02763-9