An international team of scientists has released their first map of dark matter, the invisible substance that makes up most of the known universe.
According to BBC News, the Dark Energy Survey (DES) released the map Monday and will discuss their findings Tuesday at an American Physical Society meeting. More than 300 scientists from six countries collaborated on the map, using some of the highest resolution digital cameras and telescopes.
"We measured the barely perceptible distortions in the shapes of about 2 million galaxies to construct these new maps," analysis team leader Vinu Vikram, of the Argonne National Laboratory, said in a press release. "They are a testament not only to the sensitivity of the Dark Energy Camera, but also to the rigorous work by our lensing team to understand its sensitivity so well that we can get exacting results from it."
