The researchers used data from the Dark Energy Survey and the South Pole Telescope to recalculate the total amount and distribution of matter in the universe. The team plotted the datasets from each survey on two maps of the sky and then overlaid the two maps to get a complete picture of the distribution of matter in the Universe.
The South Pole Telescope
In the course of this, it was also found that the matter is less clumped than previously assumed. The finding was described in three papers that have now been published in the journal Physical Review. “It appears that there are slightly fewer fluctuations in today’s Universe than we would predict based on our Standard Cosmological Model, which is anchored in the early Universe,” said Eric Baxter, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii. “The high precision and robustness of the new results to biases provide a particularly compelling argument that we may be beginning to uncover holes in our standard cosmological model.”
solutions on the trail
Further investigations should help to gain even deeper insights. Data from the Dark Energy Survey from three years are still available, which still have to be analyzed. Meanwhile, the South Pole Telescope is busy re-measuring the cosmic microwave background. And the Atacama Cosmology Telescope is also collecting new data on the background radiation, which offers a glimpse into the early phase of the Universe.
With the new precise data, the researchers can put the standard cosmological model to the test. And one hopes to be able to resolve the Hubble tension in this way. This is a discrepancy between two of the best methods for measuring the expansion of the universe.
- Astronomers create maps of all matter in the universe.
- Found six times more dark than normal matter.
- Data from Dark Energy Survey and South Pole Telescope used.
- Matter less clumped than previously thought.
- New data help test standard cosmological model.
- Data from other telescopes will be analyzed.
See also:
