Working with an international team of researchers, Northwestern astrophysicists found that a new NASA telescope set to launch in May 2027 will help astronomers to understand dark matter, the University announced Wednesday.
NASA said more is unknown than is known about dark matter — which makes up roughly 27% of the universe. Scientists do know it is not the same material that makes up stars, planets, dark clouds or antimatter.
The researchers predicted that NASA’s new Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will help astronomers explore potential clumps of dark matter in a neighboring galaxy.
Tjitske Starkenburg, a research professor at NU’s Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics Research, who coauthored the study, said the scope of discovery the telescope will bring is unprecedented.
“There are stellar streams in our own galaxy, where we see gaps that might be due to dark matter,” Starkenburg said in the release. “But these gaps also can be formed by other means. Our new study makes the case that we will be able to observe these gaps in nearby galaxies other than our own.”
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