Princeton Team Locates Dark-Matter Object

Astronomers have for the first time directly detected a dark-matter object. Dark matter, which does not emit light and cannot be seen by telescopes, is thought to account for as much as 90% of the mass of the universe. But researchers are not sure what it is made of.

One theory is that the dark matter is made up largely of small, faint stars too dim to be seen, called massive compact objects, or MACHOs. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, a team from Princeton University has confirmed that such objects exist.

*

Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II