![]() "The fact that we can successfully explain how our cosmos works with this level of precision is amazing." "In cosmology, as in all of science, having independent measurements that test the same theoretical model is really important," Hincks said. This could help finally nail down where discrepancies in different dark matter mapping techniques are coming from, team members said. The ACT team said that means that the new findings fit the overall picture scientists have about the evolution of the cosmos.Īt the same time, the more accurate measurements that comprise the ACT map should allow researchers to scrutinize that picture on an entirely new and deeper level. The ACT map suggests that the vast clumps of dark matter observed are just the right size to fit in with the standard model of cosmology. The matter distribution map could also help settle a problem in cosmology that emerges from measurements of light from distant stars, which suggest that dark matter isn't as "lumpy" as it should be, according to the standard model of cosmology. Arrakhis: The tiny satellite aiming to reveal what dark matter is made of Dark matter is just lumpy enough Sending atomic clocks close to the sun could unlock the secrets of dark matter Strange arrangement of Milky Way's groupie galaxies may undermine dark matter This distortion allowed the team to create a highly detailed cosmic map of the distribution of both ordinary matter and dark matter, revealing that the stuff takes the shape predicted by general relativity and the standard model of cosmology that emerged from it. This lensing effect can be seen in the distortion of the CMB. ![]() That means that its presence can be inferred as a result of its gravitational interactions with matter and radiation.Ĭrucially, it also means that dark matter has a gravitational lensing effect, especially when it is in large concentrations like the halos that are theorized to surround most, if not all, galaxies. But dark matter does have mass and thus it does interact gravitationally. The ACT scientists looked at the effect the gravity of the large structure of the universe has on the CMB as the result of gravitational lensing, providing them with a great way of mapping ordinary matter and, especially, dark matter, which makes up about 85% of the material universe but remains mysterious.ĭark matter doesn't interact with light like the "normal" stuff that comprises stars, planets and us, meaning that astronomers can't see it in any wavelength of electromagnetic radiation. Thanks to the continuing expansion of the universe, this ancient radiation fills the cosmos almost uniformly, with the occasional tiny variation. The CMB is this first freely traveling light. With fewer free electrons around, photons could travel unimpeded, and the universe became transparent, like a window. Quarks and gluons formed protons and neutrons, and these bonded with electrons to create the first atoms, around 380,000 years after the Big Bang. ![]() As a result, the universe was opaque, like a brick.Īs the universe cooled, particles could start to stick together. Electrons endlessly scattered photons, particles of light, which meant that light couldn't travel through the cosmos. The CMB is effectively the "first light" in the universe, as it comes from an era called the epoch of recombination and an event called "the last scattering." When the universe was an infant, it was filled with a sea of electrons, gluons and quarks. The nature of this warping can tell astronomers a lot about the distribution of the mass causing the spatial distortion. ![]() Gravitational lensing arises from the fact that, when gravity warps space-time, it distorts the path of light traveling toward us. The ACT observations allowed the team to study the effect that gravitational lensing, also predicted by general relativity, has on the CMB. To create the map, the scientists used data collected by the ACT, which viewed the heavens from Cerro Toco in the Chilean Atacama Desert for 15 years before it was decommissioned in 2022. Using the effects of gravity to 'see' the invisible
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