"P" == Painius writes:

A Detailed Map of Dark Matter in a Galactic Cluster Reveals How
Giant Cosmic Structures Formed

P So in addition to the dark matter believed to be a significant part
P of galaxies, there appear to be profound concentrations of dark
P matter associated with the center of galaxy clusters as well.

P Perhaps we can train the powerful Hubble on the central area of our
P Local Cluster? Maybe there are distant galaxies that will be
P distorted by the gravitational lensing of dark matter at our own
P galaxy cluster's center?

The problem is that we are not in a "real" cluster. We are in a small
group of galaxies, composed of the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy,
M33, and various dwarfs. The total mass of this group is perhaps 100
times smaller than the typical large cluster from which gravitational
lensing is seen. Moreover, we are sitting in the middle of it.

The nearest cluster of any reasonable heft is the Virgo Cluster. I'm
not sure if anybody's ever looked for gravitational lensing from it,
but ADS or astro-ph will likely contain a reference if so.

--
Lt. Lazio, HTML police | e-mail:
No means no, stop rape. | http://patriot.net/%7Ejlazio/
sci.astro FAQ at http://sciastro.astronomy.net/sci.astro.html