WORLD
Reaching, Researching Between Stars: Astronomers Use Lonestar Supercomputer to Explore Role of Dark Matter in Galaxy Formation
Baku, July 3 (AZERTAC). From Earth, observers use telescopes to look and learn about the distant luminous spheres. But the telescope often isn`t the only instrument used. Karl Gebhardt, professor of astrophysics at The University of Texas at Austin and one of the principal investigators for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) project, makes revolutionary discoveries about dark matter by combining deep-space observations with the powerful Lonestar supercomputer at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC).
Dark matter exerts a gravitational pull on matter in a galaxy, including stars, which orbit the center of the galaxy. Since dark matter neither emits nor absorbs light or other electromagnetic radiation, it cannot be seen directly with telescopes. However, through indirect evidence, scientists estimate that dark matter constitutes 83% of the matter in the universe and 23% of the mass-energy.
This represents a significant portion of the universe. For that reason, astronomers like Gebhardt feel compelled to learn more about dark matter, its influences on the formation of galaxies, and its effects on the structure of the cosmos.
Gebhardt works with two teams, one at the McDonald Observatory, a research unit of The University of Texas at Austin, and the other at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The data collection involves the Mitchell Spectrograph, a 2.7-meter telescope at the McDonald Observatory, and the NASA Hubble Space Telescope. Based on the data he receives, Gebhardt builds computer models and maps to represent the distribution of dark matter throughout different galaxies.