Direct measurement of a dark-matter ‘filament’ confirms its existence in a galaxy supercluster. A ‘finger’ of the Universe’s dark-matter skeleton, which ultimately dictates where galaxies form, has been observed for the first time. Researchers have directly detected a slim bridge of dark matter joining two clusters of galaxies, using a technique that could [continue reading]
A team of astronomers has found unexpected relationships between star formation, stellar mass, and dark matter halo mass in central galaxies of groups. This view shows a section of the widest deep view of the sky ever taken using infrared light, with a total effective exposure time of 55 hours. It was created by [continue reading]
Stars live for a long time, with even the most massive stars having lifetimes measured in millions of years. But, for a mere few thousand years towards the end of their lives, some massive stars go through what astronomers call the yellow supergiant phase. This is remarkably short in astronomical terms, and, as a result, [continue reading]
In a study that pushed quantum mechanical theory and research capabilities to the limit, UA researchers have found a way to see the molecule that likely made the universe – or at least the hot and fiery bits of it. The molecule known as H3+ is believed to have had a vital role in cooling [continue reading]
An international team of researchers led by Masamune Oguri at Kavli IPMU and Naohisa Inada at Nara National College of Technology conduced an unprecedented survey of gravitationally lensed quasars, and used it to measure the expansion history of the universe. The result provides strong evidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. There were [continue reading]
Dark matter must collide with human tissue, and physicists have now calculated how often. The answer? More often than you might expect. Dark matter plays a central role in the modeling of structure formation and galaxy evolution. Credit: NASA ESA One of the great challenges in cosmology is understanding the nature of the universe’s so-called [continue reading]