Catalog of galaxy clusters reveals secrets of dark energy, matter
Astronomers just dropped a huge new catalog of galaxy clusters, built from six years of Dark Energy Survey data using a powerful camera in Chile.
By mapping tens of thousands of these clusters, scientists are getting a clearer picture of how dark matter and dark energy shape the universe—and how these mysterious forces drive the universe's accelerated expansion.
This catalog is a big step forward for cosmology
This new catalog, published in September 2025, backs up the leading Lambda-Cold Dark Matter model (the one most scientists use to explain what's going on out there).
It also helps tackle some big questions—like the "S8 tension," where different ways of measuring the universe don't always agree.
All this sets up future discoveries as new observatories come online, giving us more tools to unravel how our universe is evolving.