Dark matter is matter that we infir to exist only on its gravitational effects. We’ve observed its existence by the fact that it seems to clump up in the middle of two massive super-solar structures following a collision.
Comment on Study: Dark matter does not exist and the universe is 27 billion years old
DAMunzy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 months agoI think it goes beyond not being able to “see” it and goes to we can’t detect it at all. Doesn’t dark matter just fill in the mathemagical holes with some numbers to make it all work?
Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 months ago
btaf45@lemmy.world 7 months ago
We can indirectly detect dark matter. That is how NASA created this map showing the actual locations of dark matter in tinted blue.
DAMunzy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 months ago
That’s a cool one!
jenny_ball@lemmy.world 7 months ago
you can also sort of directly see it with certain colliding galaxies
SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 months ago
We can detect its gravitational influence, as it interacts via gravity. The issue being that gravity is a weak force, and so there’s a lot of room for speculation.
But there is a lot of evidence backing up dark matter existing. But it’s not definitive yet.
DAMunzy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 months ago
I get that but it still sounds woo-woo since we can’t directly detect it. I’m not naysaying since I realize it’s the best we have and I’m not smart enough to come up with anything better.
iknowitwheniseeit@lemmynsfw.com 7 months ago
I mean, I guess it depends on what you mean by “directly detect”. We measure neutrinos by having photoreceptors in huge tanks of very pure water deep under old salt mines… which hardly seems more direct than looking at where galaxies and stars are moving and calculating the gravitational pull and noticing that something is missing…