Featured Image Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA; ESA/Gaia/DPAC; ESA/Planck Collaboration
Scientists have uncovered new secrets of dark matter and have revealed a shocking phenomenon that affects 500 galaxies in the universe.
Just when we think we know everything there is to know about space, scientists make a new discovery that changes it all.
And cutting edge research from the UK Space Agency has assisted the European Space Agency (ESA) in lifting the lid on dark energy and matter.
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A wealth of new data uncovered from the ESA’s Euclid mission, which has been described as the ultimate discovery machine, includes details of a whopping 500 galaxies that seem to experience a phenomenon known as strong lensing.
Strong lensing is where light from more distant galaxies is bent around closer galaxies due to gravity, like how light is focused through a glass lens on Earth.
The way the light bends indicates the total mass, which includes both visible matter and potentially dark matter too.
This discovery has meant that scientists are now able to analyze the light and begin to identify where dark matter is located.
The data collected during the mission, which involved observing billions of galaxies up to 10 billion light years away, is exciting for the prospect of better understanding this space phenomenon.
Professor Carole Mundell, who is the ESA’s Director of Science, said: “Euclid shows itself once again to be the ultimate discovery machine. It is surveying galaxies on the grandest scale, enabling us to explore our cosmic history and the invisible forces shaping our Universe.”
Professor Thomas Collett, from the University of Portsmouth's Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, added: “Euclid has provided spectacular image quality across a huge area of the sky, which is critical to discovering small, rare objects. We’ve found 500 new strong gravitational lenses in the Euclid dataset.
“These are galaxies distorted into rings of light by the mass of another foreground galaxy. We have combined the strengths of machine learning and citizen scientists to sift out these rare objects from the millions of other galaxies in Euclid.
“These new lenses will allow us to make new measurements of the mysterious dark matter and dark energy that make up 95% of our Universe but which are poorly understood.”
Professor Mike Lockwood, President of the Royal Astronomical Society, said: “To see UK astronomers, space scientists and engineers playing key roles in this extraordinary scientific endeavour is truly inspiring – and what’s even better is that this is just the beginning.
“We can look forward to Euclid giving us the most detailed ever 3D map of the cosmos, helping to solve the biggest cosmic mysteries – what the universe is made of, how it evolved, and what its future holds.”
