NASA Hubble Space Telescope Detects Ring of Dark Matter

May 9, 2007

Grey Hautaluoma
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0668

Susan Hendrix
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-7745

Ray Villard
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore
410-338-4514

MEDIA ADVISORY: M07-51

NASA HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE DETECTS RING OF DARK MATTER

GREENBELT, Md. - NASA will hold a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT
on May 15 to discuss the strongest evidence to date that dark matter
exists. This evidence was found in a ghostly ring of dark matter in
the cluster CL0024+17, discovered using NASA's Hubble Space
Telescope. The ring is the first cluster to show a dark matter
distribution that differs from the distribution of both the galaxies
and the hot gas. The discovery will be featured in the May 15 issue
of the Astrophysical Journal.

Briefing participants are:
-- Dr. Myungkook James Jee, associate research scientist, Johns
Hopkins University, Baltimore
-- Dr. Richard White, astronomer, Space Telescope Science Institute,
Baltimore

Reporters should contact Ray Villard at the Space Telescope Science
Institute at 410-338-4514 prior to the media teleconference for the
call in number and passcode. Audio for the briefing will stream live
on the Internet at:

http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

At the start of the briefing, images and supporting graphics will be
posted on the Web at:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/news/dark_matter_ring.html

For more information about the Hubble Space Telescope, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

-end-

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