Skip to main content

NASA's Hubble Traces Dark Matter in Dwarf Galaxy Using Stellar Motions

View Filtered Press Releases View All Press Releases
July 11, 2024 10:00AM (EDT)Release ID: 2024-017
A three-paneled image shows different perspectives of the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy.

Summary

The telescope's longevity is an asset in gaining clarity about the universe's invisible glue.

When theory and observations favor different results, how can astronomers determine which one is more feasible?

Increasing confidence in one theory over another oftentimes requires building a richer dataset to improve current models and lower uncertainties. A team of scientists have done just that to help alleviate the murkiness of a long-standing debate: the cusp-core problem. By analyzing NASA's Hubble Space Telescope data gathered over an almost two-decade span, astronomers have charted stellar movements within a galaxy and discovered the likely clumping of dark matter in its center.

Full Article

The qualities and behavior of dark matter, the invisible "glue" of the universe, continue to be shrouded in mystery. Though galaxies are mostly made of dark matter, understanding how it is distributed within a galaxy offers clues to what this substance is, and how it's relevant to a galaxy's evolution. While computer simulations suggest dark matter should pile up in a galaxy's center, called a density cusp, many previous telescopic observations have indicated that it is instead more evenly dispersed throughout a galaxy. The reason for this tension between model and observation continues to puzzle ...

Read More on NASA.gov

Callout: Full Press Release

Visit NASA Science to view the full news release including article text and associated Hubble imagery, graphics, scientific visualizations, videos, captions, text descriptions, and other information.

News releases highlighting the discoveries of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope are produced for NASA by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, under NASA Contract NAS5-26555. News release content is developed by the News Team in STScI’s Office of Public Outreach.

End callout
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google

Contact our News Team 

Contact our Outreach Office