spacetoday.net: Astronomers unveil largest-ever dark matter map

Posted: Tue, Jan 10, 2012, 9:35 AM ET (1435 GMT)
CFHTLenS dark matter map (CFHT)

Astronomers released on Monday the largest map yet compiled of dark matter in the universe, matching previous predictions of its distribution. The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS) examined several regions of the sky, measuring light from distant galaxies warped by gravitational lensing caused by the presence of otherwise undetectable dark matter. The maps of dark matter distribution created from those observations show that dark matter is aligned in an intricate web of filaments that closely matches theoretical predictions, and that the presence of large clumps of dark matter is closely correlated with galaxy clusters. Astronomers said that the new findings still left unresolved the issue of the composition of dark matter, which is far more prevalent in the universe than ordinary matter.