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Intracluster light can help astronomers to see the distribution of dark matter in a cluster of galaxies. Here is how this dim light can illuminate the potential location of the mysterious substance. ( NASA, ESA and M. Montes (University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia) )
Many things remain unknown about dark matter, the mysterious substance that makes up most of the matter in the universe. The results of new research, however, could help scientists determine the distribution and possibly the true nature of dark matter.
Invisible dark matter
Dark matter makes up about 85% of all matter in the universe, but it has remained invisible because it does not seem to interact with a regular material such as light. Astronomers can not detect dark matter with current instruments. They only know that it exists because of the visible effect of its gravity,
A new study by two astrophysicists from Australia and Spain, however, could help science determine where the mysterious substance is.
Light intracluster in clusters of galaxies
Mireia Montes, of the University of New South Wales in Australia, and Ignacio Trujillo, of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in Spain, said that a dim light in clusters of galaxies, called light intracluster, could map the distribution of dark matter and help astronomers understand this invisible. source of gravity.
The researchers explained that intracluster light is a byproduct of galactic interactions. When galaxies interact, individual stars are ejected from their original galaxy and float in its cluster. These stars then end up where most of the mbad of the cluster resides, mainly dark matter.
Localization of dark matter in clusters of galaxies
Isolated stars and dark matter that form the intracluster light follow the gravitational potential of the cluster itself. Because both follow exactly the same gravity, intracluster light can indicate the location of dark matter.
"We have found a new way of locating dark matter because you are tracing exactly the same gravitational potential, and we can illuminate the position of dark matter with very little glow," said Montes.
The researchers said these findings meant that researchers could map the location of dark matter using only deep imaging observations of galaxy clusters.
The results were published in the journal Monthly notices from the Royal Astronomical Society.
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