Dark Matter - Something Yet Unseen
I found something really interesting while turning the pages of my old note book of astronomy club. It was an article which I wrote during the winter vacation of 2013. It was the very first year when I heard of the term dark matter and dark energy ( this post will focus mainly on dark matter). When I asked my teacher about it she said the dark matter is like a glue to our universe. The matter we know i.e stars, planets, galaxies, atoms and us accounts only 5% of the known universe. 25% of our universe is dark matter and the rest 70% is dark energy.
What is this dark matter? Can we see it? if not then why? why do scientists think that it exists?
THE UNSEEN
Dark matter is the responsible for making it possible for the galaxies to exist. When is was calculated why the universe is structured the way it is, it was found that there is not just enough normal matter. It requires large gravitational force to form complex structured galaxies and the gravitational force of the visible matter is strong enough to form galaxies.
If there was only this force then stars would have been scattered all around the universe and not form galaxies. So now it is obvious for the scientists to think that there is something inside and around which is making the galaxies and this universe stick together. It is something we cannot see that means that it does not emit or reflect light, something dark. It is dark matter.
SEEING THE UNSEEN
Scientists have calculated the existence of dark matter and they have also detected some places with high concentration of dark matter. The light bends when passes near them. So there is something out there in this infinite universe that interacts with gravity.
Baryonic matter is the familiar material of the universe. It is composed of protons, neutrons and electrons. Most scientist think that dark matter is made up of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles
(WIMPS).WIMPS have 10 to 100 times the mass of proton but they are difficult to detect due to their weak interaction with the normal matter
Baryonic matter can also make up the dark matter, if they all tie up in small dense chunks of heavy metal or brown drafts known as MACHO's.
PROVING THE UNSEEN
According to stranded physics stars at the end of the spiral spinning galaxies should travel much slower than those near the galactic center (where the visible matter of the galaxy is concentrated) but through observations it was observed that stars travel approximately at same speed regardless of their position.And this can happen when the stars at the boundary are feeling the gravitational force of some unknown mass i.e dark matter.
Some certain optical illusions that are observed in the deep space can be explained by dark matter such as gravitational lensing. In pictures of the galaxies we must have observed some bend arcs of light. light bend when it comes from a massive galaxy to the observer. This bend can again be explained by dark matter. The light coming is experiencing the gravitational pull of some unseen mass i.e dark matter.
Many theories have been suggested to explain dark matter and it's properties but the none of them is perfect. Dark matter is still a mystery to the scientists who study this infinite universe.
Bibliography-
1) www.nationalgeogrephic.com
2) www.nasa.gov.com
3) www.space.com
What is this dark matter? Can we see it? if not then why? why do scientists think that it exists?
THE UNSEEN
Dark matter is the responsible for making it possible for the galaxies to exist. When is was calculated why the universe is structured the way it is, it was found that there is not just enough normal matter. It requires large gravitational force to form complex structured galaxies and the gravitational force of the visible matter is strong enough to form galaxies.
If there was only this force then stars would have been scattered all around the universe and not form galaxies. So now it is obvious for the scientists to think that there is something inside and around which is making the galaxies and this universe stick together. It is something we cannot see that means that it does not emit or reflect light, something dark. It is dark matter.
SEEING THE UNSEEN
Scientists have calculated the existence of dark matter and they have also detected some places with high concentration of dark matter. The light bends when passes near them. So there is something out there in this infinite universe that interacts with gravity.
Baryonic matter is the familiar material of the universe. It is composed of protons, neutrons and electrons. Most scientist think that dark matter is made up of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles
(WIMPS).WIMPS have 10 to 100 times the mass of proton but they are difficult to detect due to their weak interaction with the normal matter
Baryonic matter can also make up the dark matter, if they all tie up in small dense chunks of heavy metal or brown drafts known as MACHO's.
PROVING THE UNSEEN
According to stranded physics stars at the end of the spiral spinning galaxies should travel much slower than those near the galactic center (where the visible matter of the galaxy is concentrated) but through observations it was observed that stars travel approximately at same speed regardless of their position.And this can happen when the stars at the boundary are feeling the gravitational force of some unknown mass i.e dark matter.
Some certain optical illusions that are observed in the deep space can be explained by dark matter such as gravitational lensing. In pictures of the galaxies we must have observed some bend arcs of light. light bend when it comes from a massive galaxy to the observer. This bend can again be explained by dark matter. The light coming is experiencing the gravitational pull of some unseen mass i.e dark matter.
Many theories have been suggested to explain dark matter and it's properties but the none of them is perfect. Dark matter is still a mystery to the scientists who study this infinite universe.
Bibliography-
1) www.nationalgeogrephic.com
2) www.nasa.gov.com
3) www.space.com
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