7,000 Galaxy Clusters, Hiding in Plain Sight

A five year survey by the South Pole Telescope has produced a catalogue of more than seven thousand galaxy clusters, some dating back nearly eight billion years, giving astronomers their most detailed map yet of the universe's largest structures. Hidden inside the data is something even the researchers did not expect, a discovery that is quietly reshaping how we think star formation unfolded across the history of the universe. How do you weigh something you cannot see, hiding in light that is nearly as old as the universe itself? A team led by physicists at Argonne National Laboratory has just published an answer, in the form of a catalogue containing more than seven thous... [3311 chars]