The theory that gave rise to the concept of darkmatter arose out of necessity. Our cosmos shouldn’t be able to exist andfunction as it does base on the stuff we can see – this visible mattercouldn’t provide the gravity required to keep our galaxies lockedtogether. 

Dark matter is a theory proposed by scientists toaccount for this disparity. They argue that our cosmos must include a kind ofsubstance we can’t see, one that doesn’t absorb, reflect, or emit light –genuinely dark matter.

Dark matter must account for more than a quarter ofall matter in the universe for our scientific theories to be correct. Still,it’s unclear what dark matter is comprised of, and discovering proof ofsomething that can’t be seen is difficult. 

Previously, the gravitational effects of dark matterwere the closest thing scientists had to prove, but now researchers from theUniversity of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, have something even better: acomposite image that reveals galaxies are actually linked by dark matter.

Dark matter filaments bridge the space between galaxies in this false-color map. The locations of bright galaxies are shown by the white regions and the presence of a dark matter filament bridging the galaxies is shown in red. Image via RAS/ S. Epps & M. Hudson / University of Waterloo.

The researchers used a method known as weakgravitational lensing to combine pH๏τos obtained over a period of years todemonstrate the existence of dark matter. Images from over 23,000 galaxypairings located 4.5 billion light-years distant were used to generate thecomposite.

We may not have a better understanding of what thisstuff is made of, but we now have a tangible picture of its presence betweengalaxies.

Indeed, the picture is a significant step towardlegitimizing dark matter and dark energy at a time when other scientistsare suggesting ideas that eliminate the requirement for dark mattercompletely. 

Reference(s): Research Paper,