{"id":522,"date":"2021-05-27T22:18:52","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T22:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/?p=522"},"modified":"2021-06-01T23:10:46","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T23:10:46","slug":"astronomers-create-largest-map-of-the-universes-dark-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/2021\/05\/27\/astronomers-create-largest-map-of-the-universes-dark-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"Astronomers create largest map of the universe\u2019s dark matter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"523\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/2021\/05\/27\/astronomers-create-largest-map-of-the-universes-dark-matter\/map\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/map.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"620,331\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Earth\u2019s skies\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/map.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-523\" src=\"https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/map.jpg\" alt=\"Earth\u2019s skies\" width=\"620\" height=\"331\" srcset=\"https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/map.jpg 620w, https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/map-300x160.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-s23rjr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">We can\u2019t see it, barely understand it, but know that it exists because of the powerful influence it exerts on space.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-s23rjr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Dark matter makes up about 27% of the universe, and its gravitational force is enough to mesh entire galaxies together in a structure known as the cosmic web. Now, scientists have created the largest ever map of this mysterious substance \u2013 and it could imply that there\u2019s something wrong with Einstein\u2019s theory of relativity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-s23rjr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">They have also mapped the location of vast cosmic voids where the conventional laws of physics may not apply.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-s23rjr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Astronomers are able to map the existence of dark matter by looking at light travelling to Earth from distant galaxies; if the light has been distorted, this means there is matter in the foreground, bending the light as it comes towards us. Using artificial intelligence methods to analyse images of 100m galaxies, members of the international Dark Energy Survey (DES) team \u2013 a collaborative effort to reveal the nature of the mysterious dark energy that is driving the expansion of our universe \u2013 have created a map that covers a quarter of the sky of the southern hemisphere (an eighth of the total night sky visible from Earth).<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-s23rjr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Visualised as a pink, purple and black-mottled patch, clustered inside a pale ring (a superimposed image of the Milky Way), the brightest areas of the map show the densest areas of dark matter, corresponding to superclusters of galaxies, while the black patches are cosmic voids (see main image).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"cf296697-4ee4-4ad4-b1e1-fc722509aa90\" class=\"dcr-10khgmf\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<div class=\"css-1mzs7vm\" data-cypress=\"interactive-element-Map\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/interactive.guim.co.uk\/uploader\/embed\/2021\/05\/darkmatter-zip\/giv-825n3f6SNx3Smm2\/\" height=\"583\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-s23rjr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Dr Niall Jeffrey, of University College London and \u00c9cole Normale Sup\u00e9rieure, Paris, who co-led the project, said: \u201cIt shows us new parts of the universe that we\u2019ve never seen before. We can really see this cosmic web structure, including these enormous structures called cosmic voids, which are very low-density regions of the universe where there are very few galaxies and less matter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-s23rjr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Scientists are interested in these structures because they suspect that gravity may behave very differently inside them. By identifying their shapes and locations, the map could therefore provide a starting point for further study.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-s23rjr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The map, which will be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society<em>,\u00a0<\/em>also brings us closer to understanding what the universe is made of and how it has evolved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-s23rjr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to the standard model of cosmology, the universe started with the big bang, and then it expanded and matter evolved according to Einstein\u2019s theory of general relativity, which describes gravity. These gravitational forces are what created the clumps and voids of matter, which constitute the cosmic web.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-s23rjr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Although calculations by the DES team suggest that the distribution of this matter is broadly consistent with predictions in the standard model, it is not a perfect fit. \u201cIf you look out into the universe, the matter isn\u2019t as clumpy as expected \u2013 there are hints that it is smoother,\u201d said Jeffrey.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-s23rjr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cIt may seem a relatively small thing, but if these hints are true then it may mean there\u2019s something wrong with Einstein\u2019s theory of general relativity, one of the great pillars of physics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-s23rjr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">One possibility is that some of the measurements used to calculate how the universe should look are not quite right, said co-author Prof Ofer Lahav, also at UCL and chair of the DES UK consortium said. Alternatively, it may be a problem with the underlying model. \u201cSome people would even push it to say maybe Einstein was wrong,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-s23rjr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Lahav isn\u2019t prepared to go that far himself, yet: \u201cWhat I say is: \u2018Look, don\u2019t be too relaxed. There\u2019s something there which might indicate a disparity. Work hard, try to understand it by conventional means, but keep your eyes open that it could lead to a revolution in physics.\u2019<sup>\u00a0<\/sup>\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><em>Open an offshore company in Vanuatu and pay zero taxes.\u00a0 Enjoy your business whilst being free from annoying regulations.\u00a0 Ask us how.\u00a0 We are Trade Board Limited.\u00a0 Our website address is <\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/tradeboard.biz\"><strong><em>https:\/\/tradeboard.biz<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>.\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We can\u2019t see it, barely understand it, but know that it exists because of the powerful influence it exerts on space. Dark matter makes up about 27% of the universe, and its gravitational force is enough to mesh entire galaxies together in a structure known as the cosmic web. Now, scientists have created the largest [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1,3],"tags":[105,104,106],"class_list":{"0":"post-522","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-map","8":"category-news","9":"tag-astronomers","10":"tag-earths-skies","11":"tag-largest-map"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/map.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paieQt-8q","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":525,"href":"https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522\/revisions\/525"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/menamap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}