Wednesday, April 09, 2025

Dark Matter Gravitational Lensing | NOIRLab

Dark Matter Gravitational Lensing | NOIRLab

This visualization shows dark matter distorting the light from background galaxies. 

Most of the universe is made of stuff we have never seen. Its gravity drives normal matter (gas and dust) to collect and build up into stars, galaxies, and massive galaxy clusters. Visible matter reveals itself by shining brightly, but astronomers detect dark matter by its gravitational influence on the light we see. By looking at the area around massive galaxy clusters, astronomers can identify warped background galaxies gravitationally lensed by the cluster and reverse-engineer their distortions. 

Learn more about dark matter at NASA:

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/science-highlights/shining-a-light-on-dark-matter/


Credit: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Duration: 53 seconds
Release Date: April 8, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Astrophysics #DarkMatter #GravitationalLensing  #Cosmos #Universe #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Visualization #HD #Video

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