New dark matter theory explains two puzzles in astrophysics

Thought to make up 85% of matter in the universe, dark matter is nonluminous and its nature is not well understood. While normal matter absorbs, reflects, and emits light, dark matter cannot be seen directly, making it harder ...

Measuring dark matter halos around ancient quasars

At the center of every galaxy is a supermassive black hole. Beyond a certain size, these become active, emitting huge amounts of radiation, and are then called quasars. It is thought these are activated by the presence of ...

Machine learning reveals how black holes grow

As different as they may seem, black holes and Las Vegas have one thing in common: What happens there stays there—much to the frustration of astrophysicists trying to understand how, when and why black holes form and grow.

Why are dark matter halos of ultra-diffuse galaxies so odd?

A study co-led by physicists at UC Riverside and UC Irvine has found that dark matter halos of ultra-diffuse galaxies are very odd, raising questions about physicists' understanding of galaxy formation and the structure of ...

No trace of dark matter halos

According to the standard model of cosmology, the vast majority of galaxies are surrounded by a halo of dark matter particles. This halo is invisible, but its mass exerts a strong gravitational pull on galaxies in the vicinity. ...

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