The James Webb Space Telescope. Photo: NASA / dima_zel / Handout via Reuters.
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists have been able to create the most detailed map of dark matter to date — a mysterious substance that constitutes the majority of matter in the Universe, as reported by Reuters.
The work was conducted in a section of the celestial sphere that is nearly three times larger than the visible disk of a full moon. This research allowed scientists to "see" dark matter, which does not reflect or emit light.
The map was created using gravitational lensing — the effect of light bending caused by mass. The telescope detected slight distortions in the shapes of about 250,000 distant galaxies, which were influenced by the gravity of the matter between them and Earth.
Previously, similar maps were created using the Hubble Space Telescope; however, James Webb has much higher image resolution and covers broader areas of space, allowing it to look back in time to 8-10 billion years ago, when galaxies were actively forming.
According to researchers, the new map demonstrates with unprecedented clarity the so-called cosmic web — a vast structure consisting of clusters of galaxies, elongated threads of dark matter, and extensive voids.
Launched in 2021, the James Webb Telescope began scientific observations in 2022 and has a light-gathering capability that is about six times greater than that of the Hubble Telescope, enabling it to detect fainter and more distant objects.
Scientists believe that "the Webb Telescope provides us with new opportunities to observe the Universe. We see significantly more galaxies and much more clearly than ever before, which directly improves the accuracy of dark matter maps."
The map covers a region of the sky in the direction of the constellation Sextans, related to the COSMOS project. Scientists hope that the data obtained will help better understand the process of galaxy formation and evolution, as well as confirm existing theories about the structure and development of the Universe.
This research aligns with the modern cosmological model, according to which the majority of the Universe's mass consists of dark matter and dark energy — a mysterious force responsible for the accelerated expansion of the cosmos.
