Astronomers 'image' a mysterious dark object in the distant Universe

Summary

Mysterious dark object in space Scientists detect the lowest mass dark object currently measured Overlay of the infrared emission (black and white) with the radio emission (colour). The dark, low-mass object is located at the gap in the bright part of the arc on the right-hand side. © Keck/EVN/GBT/VLBA Overlay of the infrared emission (black and white) with the radio emission (colour). The dark, low-mass object is located at the gap in the bright part of the arc on the right-hand side. © Keck/EVN/GBT/VLBA To the pointGravitational lenses: Distortions caused by gravitational lenses can be used to study the properties of dark matter, even though it does not emit light.Discovery: An international team has discovered a dark object in the distant universe that has one million times the mass of the Sun. The discovery is based on an analysis of the gravitational effects on the light from another galaxy.Technology: A network of radio telescopes around the world, including the Green Bank Telescope, collected the data. It forms a virtual supertelescope that enables enhanced image quality, allowing even small gravitational signals to be detected.Dark matter is an enigmatic form of matter not expected to emit light, yet it is essential to understanding how the rich tapestry of stars and galaxies we see in the night sky evolved. As a fundamental building block of the universe, a key question for astronomers is whether dark matter is smooth or clumpy, as this could reveal what it is made of. Since dark matter cannot be observed directly, its properties can only be determined by observing the gravitational lensing effect, whereby the light from a more distant object is distorted and deflected by the gravity of the dark object. “Hunting for dark objects that do not seem to emit any light is clearly challenging,” said Devon Powell at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics and lead author of the study. “Since we can’t see them directly, we instead use very distant galaxies as a ba...