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Sunday, March 4, 2012

Hubble trouble: Disco-light image from space telescope leaves astronomers puzzling over 'dark core' hidden within

Astronomers have been left scratching their heads after the Hubble Space Telescope found a huge, dark lump in space which should not exist.

The dark matter in the distant galaxy cluster Abell 520, 2.4 billion light years from earth, appears to have collected into a ‘dark core’ separate from the galaxies around it, after a collision between them.

But dark matter - a mysterious 'glue' thought to hold galaxies together - shouldn't do that.

Dark matter

Dark matter, galaxies, and hot gas in the core of the merging galaxy cluster Abell 520, 2.4 billion light-years away, and formed from a violent collision of massive galaxy clusters. The blue areas show the location of most of the mass in the cluster, which is dominated by dark matter. Dark matter is an invisible substance that makes up most of the universe's mass

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2109394/Hubble-trouble-Astronomers-baffled-dark-core-matter.html

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