The mystery behind dark matter or dark energy has been perplexing space experts and theoretical physicists for years. Experts believe that 90 percent of the universe is comprised of this dark energy, and this mysterious matter is apparently responsible for the expansion of the cosmos. Earlier, it was speculated that galaxies that existed in the universe almost 10 billion years ago had less dark matter when compared to their modern day counterparts.
However, a new study report published in the journal arXiv had revealed that ancient galaxies had as much dark matter as galaxies do today; a finding that could reshape our current understanding about the universe.
"Dark matter was similarly abundant in star-forming galaxies in the distant past as it is in the present day. It wasn't a complete surprise, but in reality, we didn't know whether the observational reality would align with expectations from theory," said Alfred Tiley, an astronomer at the Durham University in London, and the lead author of the study, Live Science reports.
Tiley also added that the findings of his new study are totally dependent on the model they used. It should be noted that Tiley and his team had analyzed low-mass galaxies to make this conclusion, while several previous studies had studied about massive individual galaxies and used a different model to determine the amount of dark matter. Interestingly, these previous studies suggested that galaxies in the early universe had less dark matter when compared to young galaxies.
Even though dark matter made up 90 percent of the universe, it does not interact with light which makes it difficult for astronomers to know its precise nature.
A few days back, a study conducted by Uppsala researchers had suggested that the universe in which we live could be actually an expanding bubble with an additional dimension. Another study conducted by Oxford researchers had argued that it is not the dark matter, but a dark fluid is constituting 90 percent of the universe.
