Final September, the James Webb Area Telescope, or JWST, found JWST-ER1g, a large historic galaxy that fashioned when the universe was only a quarter of its present age. Surprisingly, an Einstein ring is related to this galaxy. That is as a result of JWST-ER1g acts as a lens and bends mild from a distant supply, which then seems as a hoop — a phenomenon referred to as robust gravitational lensing, predicted in Einstein’s principle of basic relativity.
The entire mass enclosed inside the ring has two parts: stellar and darkish matter parts.
“If we subtract the stellar mass from the overall mass, we get the darkish matter mass inside the ring,” mentioned Hai-Bo Yu, a professor of physics and astronomy on the College of California, Riverside, whose staff has revealed new work about JWST-ER1g within the journal The Astrophysical Journal Letters. “However the worth for the darkish matter mass appears increased than anticipated. That is puzzling. In our paper, we provide an evidence.”
A darkish matter halo is the halo of invisible matter that permeates and surrounds a galaxy like JWST-ER1g. Though darkish matter has by no means been detected in laboratories, physicists are assured darkish matter, which makes up 85% of the universe’s matter, exists.
“When peculiar matter — pristine gasoline and stars — collapses and condenses into the darkish matter halo of JWST-ER1g, it might be compressing the halo, resulting in a excessive density,” mentioned Demao Kong, a second-year graduate scholar at UCR, who led the evaluation. “Our numerical research present that this mechanism can clarify the excessive darkish matter density of JWST-ER1g — extra darkish matter mass in the identical quantity, leading to increased density.”
In accordance with Daneng Yang, a postdoctoral researcher at UCR and co-author on the paper, JWST-ER1g, fashioned 3.4 billion years after the Huge Bang, gives “an excellent likelihood to study darkish matter.”
“This robust lensing object is exclusive as a result of it has an ideal Einstein ring, from which we are able to receive precious details about the overall mass inside the ring, a essential step for testing darkish matter properties,” he mentioned.
Launched on Christmas Day in 2021, NASA’s JWST is an orbiting infrared observatory. Additionally referred to as Webb, it’s designed to reply questions concerning the universe. It’s the largest, most complicated, and highly effective area telescope ever constructed.
“JWST gives an unprecedented alternative for us to watch historic galaxies fashioned when the universe was younger,” Yu mentioned. “We anticipate to see extra surprises from JWST and be taught extra about darkish matter quickly.”
The examine was supported by the John Templeton Basis and the U.S. Division of Power.
The title of the open entry analysis paper is “Chilly Darkish Matter and Self-interacting Darkish Matter Interpretations of the Robust Gravitational Lensing Object JWST-ER1.”
