Dark Matter - Why it Matters
By. Jaemin Kim
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There would be times when you looked up at the dark, soothing sky at night, noticing the one or two beacons of light faintly emitting their light on the world, silently and near-permanently giving their energy out. In recent times, the meaning of the stars changed. In the old days, it was simply for sightseeing. However, nowadays, we have come to an age where stars are of greater understanding and possibilities. We have started to explore Mars, find another star that we can inhabit, and even try to find extraterrestrial beings. In this space revolution, we have uncovered mysteries and found new ones. However, for scientists and astronomers alike, one element has been quite difficult to understand for a while: Dark Matter. It refuses to interact with light or emit its own - hence, its name.
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To start, what is Dark Matter? Scientists have explained it as a form of matter that we cannot see, untouchable from our grasp. Dark Matter outweighs visible matter roughly six to one, making up about 27% of the universe. Think of it as the ‘air’ of the universe, where it takes up a portion of the universe while it cannot be seen nor touched. Despite our lack of knowledge about Dark Matter, scientists have overwhelming indirect evidence for its existence. To start, the universe's structure is influenced by the gravitational pull of Dark Matter, manipulating it to have web-like structures. When the universe was born with the Big Bang, regions with a higher density of Dark Matter were influenced to have a higher gravitational pull. Later, These over-dense spaces were formed into cosmic structures while the less-dense spaces were expanded into cosmic voids. There is also additional evidence that supports the existence of Dark Matter - the gravitational impact of Dark Matter is noticeable in observations. In the observations of galaxies, scientists and astronomers have noticed that the mass distribution in space cannot be achievable only by visible matter (stars, gas, dust, etc.) alone, leading to the prediction of an additional matter, one that is not detected by light, hiding in plain sight.
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Due to how unknown Dark Matter is, scientists started by searching for what Dark Matter is made out of. Scientists were able to narrow down the answers to several candidates. One possibility is that Dark Matter is made of WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles), a “massive” particle that interacts with other substances weakly. WIMPs still need to be proven to be real, so it is not a valid answer. Another candidate is MACHO (massive astrophysical compact halo object). MACHO is a body that emits little to no radiation and drifts through space unassociated with any planetary system (and may or may not be composed of normal baryonic matter).MACHOs do not emit light or sound, making them harder to detect. Which, also like WIMPS, is not proven if it exists. The last candidate is Axion. It is a particle whose mass is ten trillionths of an electron. Axion is a neutral particle that interacts extraordinarily weakly and could be produced in the right amount to theoretically produce Dark Matter. If Axion has low mass within a specific range, they are a possible component of Dark Matter.
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Dark Matter was introduced 91 years ago, and only a little knowledge about it has been given to us. We could only hypothesize about what it might be made out of, or even the origins of it. Even though it seems like there is no progress with Dark Matter, surprisingly, there is some, as we are now able to unveil some of the mysteries that it holds. Scientists are getting information about universes other than ours, trying to get data about Dark Matter. NASA has sent out its Pressure Balloon-borne Imaging Telescope, SuperBIT, to get data about these fascinating Dark substances. In the end, SuperBIT met a sacrificial ending, managing to give data of other universes while it met its fate, crashing into the earth. These data are being analyzed, meaning we have gotten another step closer to finally figuring out about Dark Matter, and unveiling one of the Universe’s biggest mysteries.
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Image (Cited source):
First Image - https://medium.com/affirmations-from-allison/look-up-at-the-stars-3faa0cc736cb
Second Image -
Third Image -
https://blogs.nasa.gov/superpressureballoon/category/2023-campaign/superbit/
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