NASA's Webb telescope just made the sharpest dark matter map ever
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has mapped dark matter in more detail than ever before, using light from nearly 800,000 galaxies in a patch of sky bigger than the full Moon.
By tracking how dark matter bends this light—a trick called gravitational lensing—scientists can now see cosmic structures that were hidden before.
A serious upgrade over older maps
This new map is part of the COSMOS project and covers 10 times more galaxies than ground-based maps, and double what Hubble managed.
JWST spotted new clumps and threads of dark matter at twice the resolution, revealing much more about how it's spread out across space.
Better tools mean sharper results
JWST's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) helped nail down distances to galaxies hiding behind dust, making the map even more accurate.
According to lead researcher Diana Scognamiglio, it's "twice as sharp as any dark matter map made by other observatories," giving us a clearer look at how dark matter shapes our universe.