GREENBELT, Md. – NASA will hold a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT on May 15 to discuss the strongest evidence to date that dark matter exists. This evidence was found in a ghostly ring of dark matter in the cluster CL0024+17, discovered using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The ring is the first cluster to show a dark matter distribution that differs from the distribution of both the galaxies and the hot gas. The discovery will be featured in the May 15 issue of the Astrophysical Journal.

Briefing participants are:

— Dr. Myungkook James Jee, associate research scientist, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore

— Dr. Richard White, astronomer, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore

Reporters should contact Ray Villard at the Space Telescope Science Institute at 410-338-4514 prior to the media teleconference for the call in number and passcode. Audio for the briefing will stream live on the Internet at:

http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

At the start of the briefing, images and supporting graphics will be posted on the Web at:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/news/dark_matter_ring.html

For more information about the Hubble Space Telescope, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble