{"id":356068,"date":"2026-01-27T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?p=947685"},"modified":"2026-01-27T02:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T16:00:00","slug":"nasa-reveals-new-details-about-dark-matters-influence-on-universe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=356068","title":{"rendered":"NASA Reveals New Details About Dark Matter\u2019s Influence on Universe"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Containing nearly 800,000 galaxies, this image from NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope is overlaid with a map of dark matter, represented in blue. Researchers used Webb data to find the invisible substance via its gravitational influence on regular matter.<\/div>\n
NASA\/STScI\/J. DePasquale\/A. Pagan<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

With the Webb telescope\u2019s unprecedented sensitivity, scientists are learning more about dark matter\u2019s influence on stars, galaxies, and even planets like Earth.<\/em><\/p>\n

Scientists using data from NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope have made one of the most detailed, high-resolution maps of dark matter ever produced. It shows how the invisible, ghostly material overlaps and intertwines with \u201cregular\u201d matter, the stuff that makes up stars, galaxies, and everything we can see.<\/p>\n

Published<\/a> Monday, Jan. 26, in Nature Astronomy, the map builds on previous research to provide additional confirmation and new details about how dark matter has shaped the universe on the largest scales \u2014 galaxy clusters millions of light-years across \u2014 that ultimately give rise to galaxies, stars, and planets like Earth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the largest dark matter map we\u2019ve made with Webb<\/a>, and it\u2019s twice as sharp as any dark matter map made by other observatories,\u201d said Diana Scognamiglio, lead author of the paper and an astrophysicist at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. \u201cPreviously, we were looking at a blurry picture of dark matter. Now we\u2019re seeing the invisible scaffolding of the universe in stunning detail, thanks to Webb\u2019s incredible resolution.\u201d<\/p>\n