Endless Facts, One Snippet at a Time
Dark Matter: The Hidden Mass of the Cosmos
- Dark matter makes up about 27% of the universe—but we can’t see it directly.
- It doesn’t emit, absorb, or reflect light, making it completely invisible to telescopes.
- Astronomers detect it through gravity—galaxies spin too fast to hold together without it.
- Dark matter halos act like invisible scaffolding, giving galaxies their shape and stability.
- Gravitational lensing, where light bends around unseen mass, offers proof of its presence.
- Unlike ordinary matter, dark matter interacts very weakly, if at all, with particles and radiation.
- It may consist of unknown particles such as WIMPs or axions—but none have been detected yet.
- The Bullet Cluster collision provides some of the strongest evidence separating dark from visible matter.
- Without dark matter, galaxies, clusters, and the cosmic web would never have formed as we see them.
- Solving the dark matter mystery could unlock one of the biggest secrets of the universe.