Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2008 March 30
See Explanation.  Clicking on the picture will download
 the highest resolution version available.

Weak Lensing Distorts the Universe
Credit: S. Colombi (IAP), CFHT Team

Explanation: Is the distant universe really what it appears to be? Astronomers hope not. Intervening dark matter, which is normally invisible, might show its presence by distorting images originating in the distant universe, much the way an old window distorts images originating on the other side. By noting the degree to which background galaxies appear unusually flat and unusually similar to neighbours, the dark matter distribution producing these weak gravitational lensing distortions can be estimated. Analysis of the shapes of 200,000 distant galaxies imaged with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) does indicate the presence of a massive network of distributed dark matter. Future results may even be able to discern details of the distribution. The above computer generated simulation image shows how dark matter, shown in red, distorts the light path from and apparent shape of distant galaxies, depicted in blue.


Tomorrow's picture: wet tiger


< | Archive | Index | Search | Calendar | RSS | Education | About APOD | Discuss | >

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.