Artist’s impression of the expect

This annotated artist’s impression shows the Milky Way galaxy. The blue halo of material surrounding the galaxy indicates the expected distribution of the mysterious dark matter. New measurements based on the movements of stars show that the amount of dark matter in this region around the Sun is far smaller than predicted and have indicated that there is no significant dark matter at all in our neighbourhood. The blue sphere centred on the Sun’s position shows the approximate size of the newly surveyed volume, but not its precise shape.

Credit:

ESO/L. Calçada

About the Image

Id:eso1217b
Type:Artwork
Release date:18 April 2012, 16:00
Related releases:eso1217
Size:4000 x 2250 px

About the Object

Name:Dark Matter, Milky Way
Type:Milky Way
Unspecified : Cosmology : Phenomenon : Dark Matter
Category:Illustrations

Image Formats

Large JPEG
844.6 KB
Publication JPEG
844.6 KB
Screensize JPEG
50.6 KB