New information surrounding the invisible dark matter are now visible in the web.

Apparently, the first in a series of maps that provide interesting details about the cosmos' invisible mass has been created, Sci-News.com reported. Researchers are able to craft it through the use of data from the Dark Energy Camera (DEC), the primary imaging instrument for the Dark Energy Survey (DES).

According to the outlet, the new map is created by Vinu Vikram of Argonne National Laboratory and his team. Vikram explained, "We measured the barely perceptible distortions in the shapes of about 2 million galaxies to construct these new maps."

For those who may not know, "dark matter" is known to be the invisible web that holds galaxies together, BBC described. The concept raises interesting questions that may, ultimately, provide direction to solve the universe's most mind-boggling phenomena.

As noted by BBC, the dark matter map is expected to span 1/8 of the sky. The most recent glimpse covers 0.4% only.

Meanwhile, a study from Durham University revealed that dark matter interacts with universal forces other than gravity, the Empire State Tribune wrote. According to the outlet, dark matter bends light around galaxies, resulting to "gravitational lensing" or the creation of starlight rings.

As it turns out, Durham scientists were able to spot an uncommon curvature in one of the rings. This appears to indicate the misalignment of a cluster of dark matter from its respective galaxy.

Hence, scientists thought that something else could be influencing the invisible mass.

Another interesting insight from this study suggests that dark matter may actually be interacting with itself. This is contrary to earlier belief, the Discovery News pointed.

In detail, the study, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, had astronomers zoom in on four colliding galaxies in the galaxy cluster Abell 3827. Upon observation, they found out that the dark matter associated with each galaxy is lagging 5,000 light-years behind their normal matter counterparts.

The study reveals, "A lag between dark matter and its associated galaxy is predicted during collisions if dark matter interacts with itself, even very slightly, through forces other than gravity."

As the Daily Mail put it, dark matter is always thought to interact solely with gravity. The mysterious binder is said to account for 85% of the universe's mass.

Considering its function, it is thought that the lack of dark matter may cause galaxies running in chaos.

Interestingly, the Daily Mail cited the existence of dark energy, known to take 68% of the universe's total mass / energy content. Dark matter takes 27%, while normal matter holds 5%.

What do you think is behind this mysterious event?