Researchers Create Universe's 3D Map That Could Help Navigate Dark Matter

Astrophysicists have created the first extensive 3 D map of universe that spans two billion light years.

The map's creators believe that it would help better understand matter and dark matter, in addition to help understand relative motion in the universe.

"The galaxy distribution isn't uniform and has no pattern. It has peaks and valleys much like a mountain range. This is what we expect if the large-scale structure originates from quantum fluctuations in the early universe," said Professor Mike Hudson of the University of Waterloo.

The map that Hudson and colleagues made color codes explored and unexplored areas besides showing galaxy clusters. A section of the map released for the press shows the immediate neighborhood of Milky Way galaxy with the Shapley galaxy super-cluster also shown.

The map has taken into account observed relative motion of galaxies as researchers believe that position and motion will help map dark matter. Researchers hope to scale the map by collecting more detail about his relative motion given that expansion of universe is not uniform.

"A better understanding of dark matter is central to understanding the formation of galaxies and the structures they live in, such as galaxy clusters, superclusters and voids," Hudson said.

The mapping exercise has been described in the journal Monthly Notices of Royal Astronomical Society.