Giant Dark Matter Bridge Between Galaxy Clusters Discovered
The filament forms a bridge between two huge clusters called Abell 222 and Abell 223, which lie 2.7 billion light-years away. The universe is thought to be filled with such strings of dark matter, a mysterious substance that cannot be seen, only sensed through its gravitational pull.
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http://www.sott.net/articles/show/247561-Giant-Dark-Matter-Bridge-Between-Galaxy-Clusters-Discoveredhttp://www.cnbeta.com/articles/195607.htmSEE
http://science.solidot.org/print.pl?sid=12/07/05/0422255报告发表在最新一期的《自然》杂志上。看不见的暗物质被认为占了宇宙物质的八成,其存在可通过扭曲光线推断出。但一般情况下暗物质细丝质量太低而难以观察到引力透镜现象。研究人员研究了连接星系团Abell 222和Abell 223的长18兆秒差距的暗物质细丝,检查了超过4万个背景星系发出的光的扭曲情况,计算出暗物质细丝的质量介于6.5 × 1013到9.8 × 1013倍太阳质量之间。