UBC Astronomers Discover Largest Dark Matter Structures Ever Recorded: 270 Million Light-Years Wide

Researchers led by a UBC Science astronomer have discovered the largest structures of dark matter ever recorded, measuring 270 million light-years. "The presence of a cosmic dark matter web that extends over such large distances has never been observed," says Ludovic Van Waerbeke, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

The international team led by Van Waerbeke measured the dark matter using a new gravitational lensing technique—the same tool Marie Curie fellow Catherine Heymans used to produce a high resolution map of dark matter earlier this year—another UBC first. Dark matter is an invisible web that makes up more than 80 per cent of the mass of the universe.