Artist’s impression of dark matter
© Getty
Astronomers have used a principle first proposed by Einstein over 100 years ago to map the distribution of dark matter in unprecedented detail. The team’s method managed to reveal the presence of dark matter ‘clumps’ between galaxies, showing how this mysterious substance is distributed on smaller scales. Fluctuations in the observed dark matter, identified between a distant quasar and a galaxy between that quasar and Earth, could help constrain the properties of the elusive substance.