New Dark Matter Map of the Universe (IMAGE)
Caption
Using the powerful Japanese Subaru telescope, an international team of researchers created and analyzed the deepest wide field map of the three-dimensional distribution of matter in the universe. The Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) survey collaboration team, including scientists from Princeton University, Japan and Taiwan, used tiny gravitational distortions of images of about 10 million galaxies to make a precise measurement of the lumpiness of matter in the universe. Left panel: The 3-dimensional dark matter map of the universe inferred from one of the six HSC observation areas is shown in the background with various shades of blue: brighter areas have more dark matter. The map was inferred from the distortions of shapes of galaxies in the HSC data, as indicated by white sticks. The stick lengths represent the amount of distortion, and the angle of the stick corresponds to the direction of the distortion. Right panel: The measurements are enabled by the light from distant galaxies that travels through the universe and gets deflected by matter at different epochs in the universe, before reaching the Subaru telescope.
Credit
Courtesy of the HSC research team
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