Many astronomers think that Hubble is aging and should soon be replaced by an even better space telescope, one that should be able to discover reasons for some of the infinite mysteries of the Universe.
But like always Hubble has shown that still there is no one better that it in the business. The space telescope has now provided concrete evidence of Dark Matter. Astronomers have now discovered an enormous evidence of dark matter some 5 billion light-years away. This is the most barefaced evidence supporting the existence of dark matter hidden throughout the Universe.
Astronomers have stated that only 10% of the Universe is made up of things that we can see and feel, rest all of it is covered with a mysterious dark substance called the Dark Matter. This gravity-exerting mass in the Universe holds all galaxies together in place. Astronomers have also commented that if this mass wasn’t there then our Milky Way would have already flown apart and all other galaxies would also have had the same fate.
Researchers pointed the aging telescope towards a cluster of galaxies known as cluster ZwC10024+1652. When researchers discovered the ring in these images, they initially overlooked the ring and considered it to be an artifact. But it wasn’t so; the more they tried to remove the ring by processing the image they more it stuck out and finally they had to convince themselves that the ring was nothing but Dark Matter.
Since the Dark Matter is tremendous in size, it bends light around it to create the ripple effect. This enormous ring is 2.6-million light-years wide and it would have formed when two huge clusters of galaxies would have had a head-on collision roughly 1-2 billion years ago. This collision would have puffed the mysterious matter outward to a position that it currently acquires.
To prove their point, astronomers used gravity maps to visualize the dark matter and also created computer simulations to determine what would happen when two enormous clusters of galaxies collided with each other. Researchers thought that when such a collision occurs the Dark Matter would initially fall to the center and then move outwards under the force of gravitation. As it did so gravity slowed it down and eventually all the mass condensed into a large ring similar to the one that is detected by the astronomers.
Researchers also stated that detecting dark matter is not as simple as it may seem like. The reason is that it does not shine or reflect light. So astronomers have to rely on gravity, which can bend the light of distant stars when it crosses over the Dark Matter. By applying some laws of Physics astronomers are able to tell the amount of mass present in the area.
Via: usatoday
Comments
‘Dark Matter’ is something that has been puzzling astro-physicists for many years. Albert Einstein, going beyond his theory of relativity, attempted postulating a unified theory, which did not come through.
The great scientist however, hinted at the possibility of another state of matter which could explain gravitational forces. That was a long time ago. Since dark matter bends light and does not permit it to escape, proving it by using the space based Hubble Telescope is a very significant discovery.
Science will certainly move ahead to incorporate new theories which will have take into account another state of matter besides, solid, liquid and gas. The ‘dark matter’ is where most questions about the origin of universe, the prevailing equilibrium in space, holding together of galaxies, birth of stars and of course the little life that we know of, originate from.
In the outlay scheme for the universe, man is only a fringe player but the little he has achieved in trying to unravel the whole mystery of creation is commendable. Its not trying to pats one’s own back. After all a couple of centuries ago, there was no electricity on earth and today we are able to observe space from space is a giant leap.
Cracking the mystery about ‘Dark Matter’ will prove a stepping stone for future research.