Scientists have achieved an important observational milestone with the detection of dark matter extending millions of light years from the Coma galaxy cluster. Using the Subaru Telescope’s wide-field Hyper Suprime-Cam, astronomers were able to capture the first images of wispy dark matter filaments connecting galaxy clusters over immense scales.

Dark matter is believed to make up the bulk of the mass in the universe but is invisible to telescopes as it does not emit or absorb light. Its presence can only be deduced through its gravitational influence on visible matter such as stars and galaxies.

Despite comprising over 80% of all matter, dark matter’s exact nature and distribution throughout the cosmos has remained elusive.

Led by researchers from Yonsei University in South Korea, the team focused their investigation on the Coma galaxy cluster due to its proximity and size, making it well suited for mapping the delicate dark matter structure extending outward.

Distribution of dark matter detected in the Coma galaxy cluster region
Distribution of dark matter detected in the Coma galaxy cluster region (green). The background is an image taken with the HSC. The team investigated the dark matter distribution by precisely measuring the effect of the very slight distortion of the shape of galaxies taken by the HSC due to the presence of dark matter (weak gravitational lensing effect). The image shows dark matter radiating from the center of the galaxy cluster (center of the image). Credit: HyeongHan et al.

The Hyper Suprime-Cam’s unique combination of high sensitivity, resolution and wide field of view proved crucial for surveying the large sky area needed.

The filaments detected stretch across millions of light years, clearly demonstrating they are part of the cosmic web that forms the largescale framework of the universe. Dr. James Jee of the research team stated this finding provides a critical test of the widely accepted theory of cosmological structure formation.

In recent years, some discrepancies have emerged between observational data and predictions of the reigning theoretical model, posing challenges to our cosmological understanding. Studies like this aim to carefully re-examine assumptions in an effort to resolve such puzzles.

With its unprecedented view of dark matter’s intricate web stretching across the heavens, this discovery represents an important step forward both observationally and for testing our theoretical framework of how structure arose in the early universe.

Sources

Subaru Telescope | HyeongHan, K., Jee, M.J., Cha, S. et al. Weak-lensing detection of intracluster filaments in the Coma cluster. Nat Astron (2024). doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-02164-w

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