Using deep learning to help distinguish dark matter from cosmic noise

Gravity makes dark matter clump into dense halos, indicated by bright patches, where galaxies form. In this simulation, a halo like the one that hosts the Milky Way forms and a smaller halo resembling the Large Magellanic Cloud falls toward it. SLAC and Stanford researchers, working with collaborators from the Dark Energy Survey, have used simulations like these to better understand the connection between dark matter and galaxy formation. Dark matter is the invisible force holding the universe together – or so we think. It makes up around 85% of all matter and around 27% of the universe's contents, but since we can't see it directly, we have to study its gravitational effects on galaxies and other cosmic structures.