Detecting Dark Matter

Astronomers may have discovered a way to ‘see’ dark matter using gravitational lens distortions to see perturbations in Einstein rings. Using the ALMA telescope in Chile(Atacama large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array) astronomers have been able to detect an otherwise invisible clump of matter that causes a distortion in the Einstein Ring of a distant galaxy. Now it’s not the distant galaxy astronomers are interested in, instead , it’s the distortion detected in what should otherwise be a very smooth Einstein Ring. The distortion is large enough that an object should be visible but nothing is seen. Astronomers are suggesting they are seeing the effect of a clump of dark matter – an invisible dwarf satellite galaxy of the main galaxy that’s being used as the lens for gravitational lensing.

With clear night skies; Jupiter, Saturn and Mars can be seen this week