First 3D Map of the Universe's Dark Matter Scaffolding
[heic0701] 08 Jan 2007 By analysing the COSMOS survey - the
largest ever survey undertaken with Hubble - an international
team of scientists has assembled one of the most important
results in cosmology: a three-dimensional map that offers a
first look at the web-like large-scale distribution of dark
matter in the Universe. This historic achievement accurately
confirms standard theories of structure formation. 3D structure
of dark matter as derived from the COSMOS survey For
astronomers, the challenge of mapping the Universe has been
similar to mapping a city from night-time aerial snapshots
showing only streetlights. These pick out a few interesting
neighbourhoods, but most of the structure of the city remains
obscured. Similarly, we see planets, stars and galaxies in the
night sky; but these are constructed from ordinary matter, which
accounts in total for only one sixth of the total mass in the
Universe. The remainder is a mysterious component - dark ma