Dark matter filament found, scientists say

[Dante]

Dark matter filament found, scientists say

Dark matter filament found, scientists say - Los Angeles Times

---

Dark matter

Dark matter’s tendrils revealed

Direct measurement of a dark-matter ‘filament’ confirms its existence in a galaxy supercluster. - Zeeya Merali - 04 July 2012

According to the standard model of cosmology, visible stars and galaxies trace a pattern across the sky known as the cosmic web, which was originally etched out by dark matter — the substance thought to account for almost 80% of the Universe’s matter. Soon after the Big Bang, regions that were slightly denser than others pulled in dark matter, which clumped together and eventually collapsed into flat ‘pancakes’. “Where these pancakes intersect, you get long strands of dark matter, or filaments,” explains Jörg Dietrich, a cosmologist at the University Observatory Munich in Germany. Clusters of galaxies then formed at the nodes of the cosmic web, where these filaments crossed.

 

[flacaltenn]

From the OP..

"In a sense, we were lucky," said study coauthor Aurora Simionescu, an astrophysicist at Stanford University.

Marusa Bradac, a UC Davis astrophysicist who was not involved in the study, said the next step would be to try to find more of these filaments to ensure that this was not a "pink elephant." But Bradac cheered the findings.

"I was really happy that this had finally happened," Bradac said. "We've been predicting dark matter filaments to exist for ages.... It's just excellent to be able to see them for real now."

Sometimes knowing WHERE to look is more important than the actual find.. Hopefully, this leads to actual prediction of how the glue got there, where it's going and the role it plays in structuring the universe.

 

[Mr. H.]

Pancakes. Mmmmmm..........

 

[flacaltenn]

Pancakes. Mmmmmm..........

With LINKS between them!!!! Pigs in a Blanket.

 

[Dante]

From the OP..

"In a sense, we were lucky," said study coauthor Aurora Simionescu, an astrophysicist at Stanford University.

Marusa Bradac, a UC Davis astrophysicist who was not involved in the study, said the next step would be to try to find more of these filaments to ensure that this was not a "pink elephant." But Bradac cheered the findings.

"I was really happy that this had finally happened," Bradac said. "We've been predicting dark matter filaments to exist for ages.... It's just excellent to be able to see them for real now."

Sometimes knowing WHERE to look is more important than the actual find.. Hopefully, this leads to actual prediction of how the glue got there, where it's going and the role it plays in structuring the universe.

this is awesome. understanding of life as we know it is changing all around us. can our minds fully grasp it all? the journey continues.

 

[Dante]

Pancakes. Mmmmmm..........

With LINKS between them!!!! Pigs in a Blanket.

over easy and burn the links

 

[waltky]

“Where these pancakes intersect, you get long strands of dark matter, or filaments,”

Mebbe dem's the strings of string theory.

 

[flacaltenn]

“Where these pancakes intersect, you get long strands of dark matter, or filaments,”

Mebbe dem's the strings of string theory.

More likely they are the InterGalactic Hiway System.. We just don't have it on Garmin yet..

 

[Moonglow]

interesting, I saw the show on it about two weeks ago, I love science and discovery channels, there is more dark matter than light matter in the universe.
New sub atomic particle discovered, black matter. What is next!?
Is this the end to the Bohr atom theory?. Will dark matter allow us to bend space and travel to other gallaxies?
I still want my flying car like the Jetsons.

 

[Dante]

interesting, I saw the show on it about two weeks ago, I love science and discovery channels, there is more dark matter than light matter in the universe.
New sub atomic particle discovered, black matter. What is next!?
Is this the end to the Bohr atom theory?. Will dark matter allow us to bend space and travel to other gallaxies?
I still want my flying car like the Jetsons.

Science. Awe. Who needs a mere god?

 

[syrenn]

Dark matter filament found, scientists say

Dark matter filament found, scientists say - Los Angeles Times

---

Dark matter

Dark matter’s tendrils revealed

Direct measurement of a dark-matter ‘filament’ confirms its existence in a galaxy supercluster. - Zeeya Merali - 04 July 2012

According to the standard model of cosmology, visible stars and galaxies trace a pattern across the sky known as the cosmic web, which was originally etched out by dark matter — the substance thought to account for almost 80% of the Universe’s matter. Soon after the Big Bang, regions that were slightly denser than others pulled in dark matter, which clumped together and eventually collapsed into flat ‘pancakes’. “Where these pancakes intersect, you get long strands of dark matter, or filaments,” explains Jörg Dietrich, a cosmologist at the University Observatory Munich in Germany. Clusters of galaxies then formed at the nodes of the cosmic web, where these filaments crossed.

Very cool!

 

[Moonglow]

interesting, I saw the show on it about two weeks ago, I love science and discovery channels, there is more dark matter than light matter in the universe.
New sub atomic particle discovered, black matter. What is next!?
Is this the end to the Bohr atom theory?. Will dark matter allow us to bend space and travel to other gallaxies?
I still want my flying car like the Jetsons.

Science. Awe. Who needs a mere god?

With the Hubble pics we can finally see more of the universe, just imagine how much we can't see.
I am ready for the launch of the new telescope, will make Hubble lood like an instmatic from the 70's.

 

[Dante]

interesting, I saw the show on it about two weeks ago, I love science and discovery channels, there is more dark matter than light matter in the universe.
New sub atomic particle discovered, black matter. What is next!?
Is this the end to the Bohr atom theory?. Will dark matter allow us to bend space and travel to other gallaxies?
I still want my flying car like the Jetsons.

Science. Awe. Who needs a mere god?

With the Hubble pics we can finally see more of the universe, just imagine how much we can't see.
I am ready for the launch of the new telescope, will make Hubble lood like an instmatic from the 70's.

 

[Widdekind]

According to Barbara Ryden's Foundations of Astrophysics, the average illumination level, of deep space, is equivalent to about one bright lightbulb, per solar system. Please ponder what many might, unthinkingly, take for granted -- compared to the cosmic average, humans on earth live in a "bright corner of space-time", practically "on top of" a nearby star. But on average, most of the "space real-estate" is far far away from any star. Deep space is murky & dark. Inexpertly, but parsimoniously, "dark matter" is exactly that -- normal matter, that is just plain dim. Matter does not "glow", it does not "advertise" itself. From earth, humans can only see matter that does blatantly and flagrantly "promote itself", namely stars. But, even with Hubble, even within our own star system, world-sized objects, as big as Pluto, presumably exist out in the Kuiper Belt (the "asteroid belt for comets") only a hundred AU away, and nobody on earth has yet detected them. i don't perceive that people always realize how vast space is, how far away objects are, and how dark the ambient light-level is. Humans have no "space flash-light"; the Hubble telescope is only a pair of passive "star-light goggles" (with a misground main mirror). Unsurprisingly, passive sensors can only "see" a small amount of matter out there in space, "advertising itself" to humans on earth, "over here over here". Everything else, scientists call "dark matter & energy density".

In the deep oceans, fish need huge eyes, to see in the murky darkness. A "good" pair of "space star-light goggles" would be bigger than Arecibo. With a "super-Hubble", humans would (i predict) begin to see more and more of that "dark" (duh?!) matter.

 

[flacaltenn]

According to Barbara Ryden's Foundations of Astrophysics, the average illumination level, of deep space, is equivalent to about one bright lightbulb, per solar system. Please ponder what many might, unthinkingly, take for granted -- compared to the cosmic average, humans on earth live in a "bright corner of space-time", practically "on top of" a nearby star. But on average, most of the "space real-estate" is far far away from any star. Deep space is murky & dark. Inexpertly, but parsimoniously, "dark matter" is exactly that -- normal matter, that is just plain dim. Matter does not "glow", it does not "advertise" itself. From earth, humans can only see matter that does blatantly and flagrantly "promote itself", namely stars. But, even with Hubble, even within our own star system, world-sized objects, as big as Pluto, presumably exist out in the Kuiper Belt (the "asteroid belt for comets") only a hundred AU away, and nobody on earth has yet detected them. i don't perceive that people always realize how vast space is, how far away objects are, and how dark the ambient light-level is. Humans have no "space flash-light"; the Hubble telescope is only a pair of passive "star-light goggles" (with a misground main mirror). Unsurprisingly, passive sensors can only "see" a small amount of matter out there in space, "advertising itself" to humans on earth, "over here over here". Everything else, scientists call "dark matter & energy density".

In the deep oceans, fish need huge eyes, to see in the murky darkness. A "good" pair of "space star-light goggles" would be bigger than Arecibo. With a "super-Hubble", humans would (i predict) begin to see more and more of that "dark" (duh?!) matter.

Yeah I get the part about not enough photons to detect matter in dark corners. But my understanding is that you find this stuff because of incredible mass density. Densities large enough to warp light !!! Those kind of densities seem to hint at stuff that's not on our Atomic Chart. It's not amount of mass that causes light to bend. It's DENSITY.

Could be wrong. Don't care.. I'm only into astronomy and cosmic physics for the lush beauty of it.. And because I used to pick up chicks with my large and powerful telescope..

 

[uscitizen]

One of my lamps has a dark matter filament.
When I turn it on the room gets darker.

 

[Dante]

The average illumination level, of a message board, is equivalent to about one bright bulb, per thread.

Now you know why I outshine you all. Find your own fucking threads!

 

[orBeMezaTtnoD]

Mebbe dem's the strings of string theory.

This is best explanation of string theory I've seen Brian Greene: Making sense of string theory

 

[Dante]

Dark matter filament found, scientists say

Dark matter filament found, scientists say - Los Angeles Times

---

Dark matter

Dark matter’s tendrils revealed

Direct measurement of a dark-matter ‘filament’ confirms its existence in a galaxy supercluster. - Zeeya Merali - 04 July 2012

According to the standard model of cosmology, visible stars and galaxies trace a pattern across the sky known as the cosmic web, which was originally etched out by dark matter — the substance thought to account for almost 80% of the Universe’s matter. Soon after the Big Bang, regions that were slightly denser than others pulled in dark matter, which clumped together and eventually collapsed into flat ‘pancakes’. “Where these pancakes intersect, you get long strands of dark matter, or filaments,” explains Jörg Dietrich, a cosmologist at the University Observatory Munich in Germany. Clusters of galaxies then formed at the nodes of the cosmic web, where these filaments crossed.

 

[orBeMezaTtnoD]

Interesting article but when it says

"There have been other claims that have sort of gone away, but this one looks like the best one I've seen. As far as I can tell, this really is the first."

it is probably only a matter of time (no pun intended) before this one goes away too.