"Our theories of dark matter say that it should form a giant intricate cosmic web and that's exactly what we see in this data, a cosmic web that's housing the galaxies that we can see, " Dr Heymans told BBC News.

BBC: Dark matter hints in widest-yet view of dark mystery

The survey is some 100 times larger than the previous largest map of the web of dark matter, gathered by the Hubble telescope's Cosmic Evolution Survey, or Cosmos.

BBC: Dark matter hints in widest-yet view of dark mystery