Dark Matter Dominates Early Galaxies – Researchers found dark matter makes up 60% of the mass in galaxies hosting supermassive black holes 13 billion light years away.
By Aniket Chakraborty
Feb 8, 2025
Vera Rubin’s Legacy – Inspired by Vera Rubin’s 1970s discovery, the team used rotation curves to study dark matter in the early universe.
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Flat Rotation Curves – Distant galaxies showed flat rotation curves, similar to nearby galaxies, indicating significant dark matter presence.
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ALMA Telescope’s Role – Data from ALMA and ionized carbon emissions helped uncover gas dynamics in ancient quasar host galaxies.
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Dark Matter Halos – Dark matter surrounds galaxies like halos, enabling stars and gas to move at higher velocities in the outer regions.
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Early Universe Insights – The study provides the first observational constraints on dark matter assembly in the early universe.
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Supermassive Black Holes – The research highlights the relationship between dark matter and supermassive black holes in young galaxies.
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Redshift 6 Galaxies – The team studied galaxies at redshift 6, offering a glimpse into the universe just 1 billion years after the Big Bang.
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Contradictory Past Findings – Unlike previous studies showing declining rotation curves, this research reveals flat curves, suggesting more dark matter.
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Galaxy Evolution Clues – The findings help explain how galaxies evolved from the early universe to their current structures.