Weak‐Lensing Mass Reconstruction of the Interacting Cluster 1E 0657−558: Direct Evidence for the Existence of Dark Matter
Open accessAbstract
We present a weak-lensing mass reconstruction of the interacting cluster 1E 0657-558, in which we detect both the main cluster and a subcluster. The subcluster is identified as a smaller cluster that has just undergone initial infall and pass-through of the primary cluster and has been previously identified in both optical surveys and X-ray studies. The X-ray gas has been separated from the galaxies by ram pressure-stripping during the pass-through. The detected mass peak is located between the X-ray peak and galaxy concentration, although the position is consistent with the galaxy centroid within the errors of the mass reconstruction. We find that the mass peak for the main cluster is in good spatial agreement with the cluster galaxies and is offset from the X-ray halo at 3.4 σ significance, and we determine that the mass-to-light ratios of the two components are consistent with those of relaxed clusters. The observed offsets of the lensing mass peaks from the peaks of the dominant visible mass component (the X-ray gas) directly demonstrate the presence, and dominance, of dark matter in this cluster. This proof of dark matter existence holds true even under the assumption of modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND); based on the observed gravitational shear-optical light ratios and the mass peak-X-ray gas offsets, the dark matter component in a MOND regime would have a total mass that is at least equal to the baryonic mass of the system.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
All the cited lensing analyses of the Bullet Cluster are in good agreement, and none show a displacement between mass and galaxy light in either substructure.
“We stress that regardless of the specific reconstruction technique, all the above-cited analyses are in good agreement, and none show a displacement between mass and galaxy light in either substructure.”
From The Mismeasure of Mergers: Revised Limits on Self-interacting Dark Matter in Merging Galaxy Clusters (2018) · cites this paper as Clowe et al. (2004)
The Summary reports that the main cluster’s lensing mass peak coincides with its galaxies and that the subclump’s mass peak is consistent with its optical component. It also reports an observed subclump mass–galaxy offset at 70% confidence, so ‘none show a displacement’ needs a statistical-significance qualifier. This paper does not establish that all the other cited analyses agree. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredFor the Bullet Cluster east, when the mass and light are smoothed on similar scales as in Clowe et al. (2004), there is no discernible difference between the mass and light positions.
“When the mass and light are smoothed on similar scales as in Clowe et al. (2004), there is no discernible difference between the mass and light positions.”
From The Mismeasure of Mergers: Revised Limits on Self-interacting Dark Matter in Merging Galaxy Clusters (2018) · cites this paper as Clowe et al. (2004)
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Schlegel, D. J., Finkbeiner, D. P., & Davis, M. (1998) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/305772 · Cited by 15,126 · see citing works
The Structure of Cold Dark Matter Halos
Navarro, J. F., Frenk, C. S., & White, S. D. M. (1996) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/177173 · Cited by 8,544 · cited 1× · see citing works
“We tried fitting a singular isothermal sphere, a NFW model (Navarro et al. 1996), and a King model to the data and found that the King model was marginally preferred over the NFW model, as measured by the δχ2 between the model reduced shear profile and the data.”
MethodA modification of the Newtonian dynamics as a possible alternative to the hidden mass hypothesis
Milgrom, M. (1983) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/161130 · Cited by 3,316 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 4
- Allen, C. W., & Cox, A. N. 2000, Allen's Astrophysical Quantities (4th ed.; New York: Springer)
- Bevington, P. R., & Robinson, D. K. 1992, Data Reduction and Error Analysis for the Physical Sciences (New York: McGraw-Hill)
- ---. 2004, ApJ, 606, in press
- Tormen, G., Moscardini, L., & Yoshida, N. 2003, MNRAS, in press
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The Mismeasure of Mergers: Revised Limits on Self-interacting Dark Matter in Merging Galaxy Clusters
Wittman, D., Golovich, N., & Dawson, W. A. (2018) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aaee77 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
- Authors
- Clowe, D., Gonzalez, A., & Markevitch, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Bonn (DE)
- University of Florida (US)
- Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (US)
- Venue
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Publisher
- American Astronomical Society
- Published
- 2004-04
- Volume
- 604
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 596-603
- ISSN
- 0004-637X (ISSN-L)
- 1538-4357
- OpenAlex
- W2033486725
- Cited by
- 638
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 38 · 2023: 49 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 47 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 54 · 2017: 34 · 2016: 38 · 2015: 38 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 21
- FWCI
- 10.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The Astrophysical Journal (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0407485)
- Smithsonian Institution
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NAS8-39073)
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (342/3-1)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Cosmology and Gravitation Theories
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Nuclear and High Energy Physics › Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
- Keywords
- Abell 520, weak gravitational lensing, dark matter, galaxy clusters, cluster mergers, subclusters, X-ray gas, ram pressure stripping, mass-to-light ratio, MOND, cluster mass reconstruction
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
