Dark matter is believed to exist all throughout the visible universe and is the cosmic glue holding galaxies together. Because of its “dark” nature, dark matter does not appear to reflect or emit light, making it impossible to observe directly. Astrophysicists are, however, certain dark matter is real because something invisible is making galaxies much heavier than the sum total of the mass we can observe. And according to scientists at Harvard University, a galaxy 295 million light-years away holds much more dark matter than previously assumed.
Data collected by NASA’s Chandra telescope has helped US astronomers study an “isolated” galaxy dubbed Markarian 1216.
The elliptical star cluster is believed to have formed shortly after the Big Bang and is almost as old as the universe itself.
The stars found in the galaxy’s densely-packed centre are within 10 percent of the age of the universe.
And within this cluttered centre is an unusually high concentration of dark matter, which scientists hope they will be able to “weigh”.
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David Buote of the University of California at Irvine said: “When we compared the Chandra data to our computer models, we found a much stronger concentration of dark matter was required than we find in other galaxies of similar total mass.
“This tells us the history of Mrk 1216 is very different from the typical galaxy.
“Essentially all of its stars and dark matter was assembled long ago with little added in the past 10 billion years.”
Dark matter makes up about 85 percent of the total mass of the universe.
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Scientists have only been able to detect it indirectly because the gravitational effects of rotating galaxies suggest they are much heavier than they should be.
This has led to the dark matter theory, which proposes some form of theoretical matter, different from the kind humans and cars and everything we touch is made of, exists.
According to the new study, a concentrated “halo” of dark matter formed around the centre of Mrk 1216 about three to four billion years after the Big Bang.
This halo would have extended over a region of space much bigger than the host galaxy itself.
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The new study has also reevaluated the supposed mass of the supermassive black hole right at the heart of the galaxy.
Until recently, astronomers estimated the black hole was much heavier than expected for a galaxy like Mrk 1216.
Scientists now think the black hole only weighs four billion times as much as our Sun, which is not at all unusual for a galaxy the size of Mrk 1216.
The study was published in the June 1st issue of The Astrophysical Journal.