News of science:Scientists have been trying to puzzle out for decades why the universe seems to weigh more than it should, and so far the answer points to dark matter—an invisible substance that they still don’t clearly understand and is thought to exist in clumps throughout the universe
Simona Vegetti, a physics fellow at MIT, now says she’s discovered an entire galaxy made of dark matter just outside the Milky Way.
“The thing people like about dark matter is that it’s been able to explain so many observations,” Vegetti said.
Because dark matter reflects no light, the galaxy is elusive. Vegetti worked with an international team of scientists including three from the U.S. and two from the Netherlands. Using the Keck Telescope in Hawaii, they detected the galaxy by studying ripples in the patterns of light rays from the Milky Way, a method known as gravitational lensing.
The dark galaxy may host a luminous galaxy made invisible by the dark matter.
“It’s a dark matter-dominated object,” Vegetti said, “So there might be stars but very little.”
There are thought to be more than 10,000 satellite galaxies attached to our Milky Way galaxy, but only 30 of them are visible, she said.
“The question becomes are these satellites missing because they don’t exist or because they are purely dark? And that’s one question we’re trying to answer,” she said.
Some astronomers said they were thrilled by Vegetti’s discovery, calling it another step in a long and complex endeavor to get a handle on dark matter.
Mayda Velasco, a physics professor at Northwestern University, called the discovery very exciting.
“Anything that has to do with dark matter is crucial,” she said, “It makes up 95 percent of the universe and we don’t know where it comes from….Any new source of dark matter that we can exploit to find more about dark matter is really good.”
Andrey Kravstov, an astronomy and astrophysics professor at the University of Chicago, called the results of Vegetti’s study important and convincing.
“The study by Vegetti and collaborators is a very valuable contribution in the ongoing testing of cold dark matter paradigm prediction on small scales,” he said.
Vegetti said she’ll continue to look for more dark matter galaxies surrounding the Milky Way.
“We don’t know if there’s something special about the Milky Way,” she said, “It’s important to see other galaxies. It’s the opening of a new possibility. We can start answering the questions.”Scientists have been trying to puzzle out for decades why the universe seems to weigh more than it should, and so far the answer points to dark matter—an invisible substance that they still don’t clearly understand and is thought to exist in clumps throughout the universe
Simona Vegetti, a physics fellow at MIT, now says she’s discovered an entire galaxy made of dark matter just outside the Milky Way.
“The thing people like about dark matter is that it’s been able to explain so many observations,” Vegetti said.
Because dark matter reflects no light, the galaxy is elusive. Vegetti worked with an international team of scientists including three from the U.S. and two from the Netherlands. Using the Keck Telescope in Hawaii, they detected the galaxy by studying ripples in the patterns of light rays from the Milky Way, a method known as gravitational lensing.
The dark galaxy may host a luminous galaxy made invisible by the dark matter.
“It’s a dark matter-dominated object,” Vegetti said, “So there might be stars but very little.”
There are thought to be more than 10,000 satellite galaxies attached to our Milky Way galaxy, but only 30 of them are visible, she said.
“The question becomes are these satellites missing because they don’t exist or because they are purely dark? And that’s one question we’re trying to answer,” she said.
Some astronomers said they were thrilled by Vegetti’s discovery, calling it another step in a long and complex endeavor to get a handle on dark matter.
Mayda Velasco, a physics professor at Northwestern University, called the discovery very exciting.
“Anything that has to do with dark matter is crucial,” she said, “It makes up 95 percent of the universe and we don’t know where it comes from….Any new source of dark matter that we can exploit to find more about dark matter is really good.”
Andrey Kravstov, an astronomy and astrophysics professor at the University of Chicago, called the results of Vegetti’s study important and convincing.
“The study by Vegetti and collaborators is a very valuable contribution in the ongoing testing of cold dark matter paradigm prediction on small scales,” he said.
Vegetti said she’ll continue to look for more dark matter galaxies surrounding the Milky Way.
“We don’t know if there’s something special about the Milky Way,” she said, “It’s important to see other galaxies. It’s the opening of a new possibility. We can start answering the questions.”
News source:northwestern
Simona Vegetti, a physics fellow at MIT, now says she’s discovered an entire galaxy made of dark matter just outside the Milky Way.
“The thing people like about dark matter is that it’s been able to explain so many observations,” Vegetti said.
Because dark matter reflects no light, the galaxy is elusive. Vegetti worked with an international team of scientists including three from the U.S. and two from the Netherlands. Using the Keck Telescope in Hawaii, they detected the galaxy by studying ripples in the patterns of light rays from the Milky Way, a method known as gravitational lensing.
The dark galaxy may host a luminous galaxy made invisible by the dark matter.
“It’s a dark matter-dominated object,” Vegetti said, “So there might be stars but very little.”
There are thought to be more than 10,000 satellite galaxies attached to our Milky Way galaxy, but only 30 of them are visible, she said.
“The question becomes are these satellites missing because they don’t exist or because they are purely dark? And that’s one question we’re trying to answer,” she said.
Some astronomers said they were thrilled by Vegetti’s discovery, calling it another step in a long and complex endeavor to get a handle on dark matter.
Mayda Velasco, a physics professor at Northwestern University, called the discovery very exciting.
“Anything that has to do with dark matter is crucial,” she said, “It makes up 95 percent of the universe and we don’t know where it comes from….Any new source of dark matter that we can exploit to find more about dark matter is really good.”
Andrey Kravstov, an astronomy and astrophysics professor at the University of Chicago, called the results of Vegetti’s study important and convincing.
“The study by Vegetti and collaborators is a very valuable contribution in the ongoing testing of cold dark matter paradigm prediction on small scales,” he said.
Vegetti said she’ll continue to look for more dark matter galaxies surrounding the Milky Way.
“We don’t know if there’s something special about the Milky Way,” she said, “It’s important to see other galaxies. It’s the opening of a new possibility. We can start answering the questions.”Scientists have been trying to puzzle out for decades why the universe seems to weigh more than it should, and so far the answer points to dark matter—an invisible substance that they still don’t clearly understand and is thought to exist in clumps throughout the universe
Simona Vegetti, a physics fellow at MIT, now says she’s discovered an entire galaxy made of dark matter just outside the Milky Way.
“The thing people like about dark matter is that it’s been able to explain so many observations,” Vegetti said.
Because dark matter reflects no light, the galaxy is elusive. Vegetti worked with an international team of scientists including three from the U.S. and two from the Netherlands. Using the Keck Telescope in Hawaii, they detected the galaxy by studying ripples in the patterns of light rays from the Milky Way, a method known as gravitational lensing.
The dark galaxy may host a luminous galaxy made invisible by the dark matter.
“It’s a dark matter-dominated object,” Vegetti said, “So there might be stars but very little.”
There are thought to be more than 10,000 satellite galaxies attached to our Milky Way galaxy, but only 30 of them are visible, she said.
“The question becomes are these satellites missing because they don’t exist or because they are purely dark? And that’s one question we’re trying to answer,” she said.
Some astronomers said they were thrilled by Vegetti’s discovery, calling it another step in a long and complex endeavor to get a handle on dark matter.
Mayda Velasco, a physics professor at Northwestern University, called the discovery very exciting.
“Anything that has to do with dark matter is crucial,” she said, “It makes up 95 percent of the universe and we don’t know where it comes from….Any new source of dark matter that we can exploit to find more about dark matter is really good.”
Andrey Kravstov, an astronomy and astrophysics professor at the University of Chicago, called the results of Vegetti’s study important and convincing.
“The study by Vegetti and collaborators is a very valuable contribution in the ongoing testing of cold dark matter paradigm prediction on small scales,” he said.
Vegetti said she’ll continue to look for more dark matter galaxies surrounding the Milky Way.
“We don’t know if there’s something special about the Milky Way,” she said, “It’s important to see other galaxies. It’s the opening of a new possibility. We can start answering the questions.”
News source:northwestern
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