The Power of the Dark Side

What’s going on in the Universe?
In the mid 20th Century, astronomers got a shock when they discovered that most of the matter in the Universe is dark, and cannot be seen. In 1998 that shock was magnified when astronomers, almost by accident, confirmed their suspicions and those of Albert Einstein, that the Universe is pervaded not only by dark matter but also by dark energy. This mysterious energy fills the Universe, and profoundly affects its fate, yet we know next to nothing about it.

But not for long. The Dark Universe Observatory (DUO) is a Small Explorer Class (SMEX) NASA mission which will probe the 95% of the Universe that up to now has remained mysterious and unknown. Studying dark matter and energy directly is impossible with our current technology, so DUO will do the next best thing: seek clues to their presence and nature by examining their effect on “normal” matter. DUO will examine X-rays from the hot gas that exists within clusters of galaxies – the largest stable structures in the Universe—and seek the footprint of dark matter and energy.