Astronomers have received the first images from the low-cost Superpressure Balloon-borne Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT), and they are spectacular. It operates in the stratosphere using NASA’s super-pressure balloon (SPB) system, providing insight into the distribution of dark matter in galaxy clusters and throughout the large scale structure of the universe.
Since dark matter cannot be seen, SuperBIT basically maps where the material is by the way it bends passing rays of light, a technique also known as gravitational lensing. SuperBIT aims to test whether dark matter particles can bounce off each other by mapping the dark matter around clusters of galaxies that are colliding with their neighbors. What you see below are breathtaking images of the “Tarantula Nebula” and the collision between the “Antennae galaxies” NGC 4038 as well as NGC 4039.
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SuperBIT cost about £4.1million/$5million USD, almost 1,000 times less than an equivalent satellite. Helium is cheaper than rocket fuel and the ability of SuperBIT to return to Earth by parachute meant the team could tweak its design over several test flights and can continue to upgrade the telescope,” said the team.
