NASA Webb ‘Pierces’ Bullet Cluster, Refines Its Mass
Hello darkness my old friend…
What you are (not) seeing, highlighted in blue, is dark matter. Webb was used to precisely map out the dark matter that is part of the makeup of two colliding galaxy clusters, with help from @NASAChandraXray. Webb captured more extremely faint galaxies in the Bullet Cluster than ever seen before (as well as foreground stars), allowing scientists to accurately determine the mass of the cluster.
Chandra data shows the hot, X-ray-emitting gas present between the two galaxy clusters (highlighted in pink). As these two galaxy clusters collided, this gas was dragged out and left behind. Webb observations show that the dark matter (in blue) still lines up with the galaxies and was not dragged away.
Normally galaxies consist of gas, dust, stars, and dark matter, all combined, even when the galaxies are part of a cluster. Observing this separation between the gas and dark matter is unusual.
While we cannot see dark matter because it does not emit light, it has mass and gravitational influence on light we can see. It can act like a lens, magnifying and warping objects behind it. Imagine dark matter as water so clear you can’t see it unless the wind ripples it. The ripples will distort the shapes of any pebbles below its surface. Likewise, dark matter distorts the shapes of distant background galaxies. We can’t see it, but we see its effects.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, CXC
Science credit: James Jee (Yonsei University, UC Davis), Sangjun Cha (Yonsei University), Kyle Finner (Caltech/IPAC)
#NASAMarshall #NASA #NASAWebb #JWST #NASAGoddard #astrophysics #NASAChandra #Space #Chandra #Telescope #Universe
Read more about NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope
NASA Webb ‘Pierces’ Bullet Cluster, Refines Its Mass
Hello darkness my old friend…
What you are (not) seeing, highlighted in blue, is dark matter. Webb was used to precisely map out the dark matter that is part of the makeup of two colliding galaxy clusters, with help from @NASAChandraXray. Webb captured more extremely faint galaxies in the Bullet Cluster than ever seen before (as well as foreground stars), allowing scientists to accurately determine the mass of the cluster.
Chandra data shows the hot, X-ray-emitting gas present between the two galaxy clusters (highlighted in pink). As these two galaxy clusters collided, this gas was dragged out and left behind. Webb observations show that the dark matter (in blue) still lines up with the galaxies and was not dragged away.
Normally galaxies consist of gas, dust, stars, and dark matter, all combined, even when the galaxies are part of a cluster. Observing this separation between the gas and dark matter is unusual.
While we cannot see dark matter because it does not emit light, it has mass and gravitational influence on light we can see. It can act like a lens, magnifying and warping objects behind it. Imagine dark matter as water so clear you can’t see it unless the wind ripples it. The ripples will distort the shapes of any pebbles below its surface. Likewise, dark matter distorts the shapes of distant background galaxies. We can’t see it, but we see its effects.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, CXC
Science credit: James Jee (Yonsei University, UC Davis), Sangjun Cha (Yonsei University), Kyle Finner (Caltech/IPAC)
#NASAMarshall #NASA #NASAWebb #JWST #NASAGoddard #astrophysics #NASAChandra #Space #Chandra #Telescope #Universe
Read more about NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope