Astrophysicists Map Dark Universe Using Warped Galaxies

Astrophysicists at the University of Chicago have significantly advanced our understanding of the dark universe by mapping invisible components using warped galaxies. This research, detailed in papers published in the Open Journal of Astrophysics, builds on data collected from the Dark Energy Survey conducted between 2013 and 2019.

The Dark Energy Survey, utilizing the Dark Energy Camera on the 4-meter Blanco Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, measured the shapes of over 150 million galaxies across 5,000 square degrees of the sky.

In a new initiative known as the Dark Energy Camera All Data Everywhere project, or DECADE, researchers expanded their analysis by including additional observations, nearly doubling the number of galaxies with measured shapes.

They analyzed how the shapes of these galaxies were distorted due to weak gravitational lensing, a phenomenon where mass bends light. Lead researcher Chihway Chang explained that weak lensing is a powerful tool for studying mass distribution, contributing to our understanding of both dark matter and dark energy.

The DECADE project measured over 100 million galaxies and estimated their distances using redshift analysis. Results indicated that cosmic structure growth aligns with predictions of the Lambda-CDM model, a standard cosmology framework.

This alignment has been a topic of debate, particularly regarding tensions between observations of the early universe and nearby galaxy surveys. The findings suggest that there is no significant disagreement between weak lensing measurements and cosmic microwave background data.

The DECADE project represents a unique approach, utilizing archival data instead of specialized imaging campaigns, which allows for more robust cosmological analyses. The collaboration involved institutions such as Fermilab and the University of Chicago, yielding a comprehensive galaxy catalog that covers about one-third of the sky.

Released this fall, this catalog includes 270 million galaxies and is already being utilized in other studies, enhancing our understanding of the universe's structure and the elusive dark components that govern it.

According to the report from Science Daily, this research is crucial for unraveling the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy, which constitute approximately 95 percent of the universe.