One of the most important discoveries of the past 50 years is that most of the g
ID: 231420 • Letter: O
Question
One of the most important discoveries of the past 50 years is that most of the gravitating matter in our galaxy – and apparently the universe – is composed of some generally non-luminous and mysterious material that we have as yet been unable to identify. Describe in detail the evidence for the existence of this so-called “dark matter”, and explain why we believe that it may outweigh the “normal” matter in our galaxy by a factor of 10-100. What are the possible candidates that might make up such “dark matter”?
Explanation / Answer
Evidence for the existence of this so-called “dark matter
Why we believe that it may outweigh the “normal” matter in our galaxy by a factor of 10-100
Dynamical and general relativistic methods compute the masses of the galaxies and large objects. The mass seems to be more than the mass of the visible luminous matter.
So it is believed that dark matter will outweigh the “normal” matter in our galaxy by a factor of 10-100
What are the possible candidates that might make up such “dark matter”?
It is believed that weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) constitute the dark matter.
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