Hot News for Cold Dark Matter

[schadeaux]

Astronomers have used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to make the most detailed probe yet of the distribution of dark matter in a massive cluster of galaxies. Their results indicate that about 80 percent of the matter in the universe consists of cold dark matter - mysterious subatomic particles left over from the dense early universe.

Chandra observed a cluster of galaxies called Abell 2029 located about a billion light years from Earth. The cluster is composed of thousands of galaxies enveloped in a gigantic cloud of hot gas, and an amount of dark matter equivalent to more than a hundred trillion Suns. At the center of this cluster is an enormous, elliptically shaped galaxy that is thought to have been formed from the mergers of many smaller galaxies.

The X-ray data show that the density of dark matter increases smoothly all the way into the central galaxy of the cluster. This discovery agrees with the predictions of cold dark matter models, and is contrary to other dark matter models that predict a leveling off of the amount of dark matter in the center of the cluster.

View: Full Article | Source: Chandra X-Ray Observatory Center

[Homer]

Excellent article schadeaux

Hmmm, cold dark matter is an accurate way to describe some people I know

[Starlyte]

Yes, excellent article. It seems as if they are so close to pinning down dark matter and dark energy. I think this is all very exciting!

Hmmm, cold dark matter is an accurate way to describe some people I know

Funny Homer! I think I also know some people like this!