dark matter galaxies map james webb telescope.

A new high-resolution map of distant galaxies may help scientists understand the mysterious dark matter holding the universe together. For decades, researchers have hoped to demystify what’s known as dark matter: an invisible substance that comprises just over a quarter of our universe. Scientists can’t study it directly, but they can observe how it warps the star stuff around it. In the latest study, they charted hundreds of thousands of galaxies over 10 billion years, creating one of the most detailed maps to date. Scientists can study it to see how dark matter has clumped up over time. The study was published Monday in Nature Astronomy.