The theory that gave rise to the concept of dark matter arose out of necessity. Our cosmos shouldn’t be able to exist and function as it does base on the stuff we can see – this visible matter couldn’t provide the gravity required to keep our galaxies locked together.

Scientists have proposed the hypothesis of dark matter to explain this disparity. They argue that our universe must contain a substance that we can’t see, one that doesn’t absorb, reflect, or emit light — true dark matter.

For our scientific beliefs to be right, dark matter must account for more than a quarter of all matter in the universe. Even so, no one knows what dark matter is made of, and proving something that can’t be seen is tough.

Previously, the gravitational effects of dark matter were the closest thing scientists had to prove, but now researchers from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, have something even better: a composite image that reveals galaxies are actually linked by dark matter.

To prove the presence of dark matter, the researchers combined photographs taken over a period of years using a technique known as weak gravitational lensing. The composite was created using images from over 23,000 galaxy pairings situated 4.5 billion light-years away.

We may not have a better understanding of  what this stuff is made of, but we now have a visual representation of its existence between galaxies.

Indeed, the image represents a huge step toward legitimizing dark matter and dark energy at a time when other scientists are proposing theories that completely eliminate the requirement for dark matter.