What exactly is dark matter?

What exactly is dark matter?

Dark matter is composed of particles that do not absorb, reflect, or emit light, so they cannot be detected by observing electromagnetic radiation. Dark matter is material that cannot be seen directly. We know that dark matter exists because of the effect it has on objects that we can observe directly.

Who found dark matter?

Fritz Zwicky

What is the nature of dark matter?

Unlike normal matter, dark matter does not interact with the electromagnetic force. This means it does not absorb, reflect or emit light, making it extremely hard to spot. In fact, researchers have been able to infer the existence of dark matter only from the gravitational effect it seems to have on visible matter.

What are examples of dark matter?

Dark matter could be white dwarfs, the remnants of cores of dead small- to medium-size stars. Or dark matter could be neutron stars or black holes, the remnants of large stars after they explode.

Can dark matter be detected?

Dark matter is an invisible form of matter that makes up the bulk of the universe’s mass and creates the scaffolding upon which galaxies are built. Although astronomers cannot see dark matter, they can detect its presence indirectly by measuring how its gravity affects stars and galaxies.

Can we see black holes?

Scientists can’t directly observe black holes with telescopes that detect x-rays, light, or other forms of electromagnetic radiation. We can, however, infer the presence of black holes and study them by detecting their effect on other matter nearby.

What would happen if a tiny black hole where on earth?

Whatever mass of Earth was left, would collapse into a disk of hot rock and start rotating around the black hole. From space, this would look like an accretion disk – our spinning planet’s debris around the black hole’s event horizon. The black hole would consume you before you even realized what was happening.

Why can’t the sun be a supernova?

Our sun is not massive enough to explode in a supernova. The least-massive type of supernova is a type 1A, where a white dwarf gains mass by “stealing” from another star. At 1.44 solar masses, it can no longer support it’s own weight. The sun is simply not big enough to collapse and form a supernova.