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3w ago

Webb Pinpoints Bullet Cluster’s Mass and Dark Matter Distribution

Researchers plan to extend these measurements to the cluster’s full extent with the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope by 2027.

By merging data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory with new infrared data from the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists have unprecedented detail into the Bullet Cluster. The blue represents the dark matter.
(Credit: NASA)
Image

Overview

  • Webb’s NIRCam near-infrared imagery yielded the most detailed view of the Bullet Cluster to date and enabled the most precise mass measurement using the largest gravitational lensing dataset ever compiled.
  • Strong and weak lensing analyses mapped dark matter across the cluster cores and outskirts, confirming that dark matter remains aligned with galaxies and showing negligible self-interaction.
  • Light from free-floating intracluster stars was verified as a reliable tracer of dark matter even in the turbulent aftermath of the collision.
  • Unusual mass clumps and elongated structures discovered in the new data suggest the Bullet Cluster formed through multiple galaxy cluster collisions over billions of years.
  • Future wide-field infrared imaging by the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, scheduled for launch by May 2027, will complete mass estimates and allow detailed reconstruction of the cluster’s full collision history.