Dark Energy, it’s a Very Dark Matter!
Although believed essential, what is dark matter and how does it affect our universe?
Dark matter and dark energy are two mysterious components of the universe that collectively make up the majority of its composition. Although their exact nature remains elusive, scientists have gathered evidence for their existence through various observations and experiments. Let’s explore what we know about dark matter and dark energy.
Dark matter is an invisible substance that does not interact with light or other forms of electromagnetic radiation. It cannot be directly observed, but its presence is inferred from its gravitational effects on visible matter. Astronomers first hypothesized the existence of dark matter in the 1930s to explain discrepancies between the observed motion of galaxies and the amount of visible matter within them.
One key piece of evidence for dark matter comes from the observation of galactic rotation curves. These curves show that the orbital speeds of stars and gas within galaxies remain constant or increase with distance from the galactic center, contrary to what would be expected based on the distribution of visible matter alone. The presence of additional unseen mass, or dark matter, provides the gravitational pull necessary to explain these observations.
