Dark Matter, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 5, 2021

Scientists narrow down the 'weight' of dark matter trillions of trillions of times

Scientists are finally figuring out how much dark matter — the almost imperceptible material said to tug on everything, yet emit no light — really weighs. The new estimate helps pin down how heavy its particles could be — with implications for what the mysterious stuff actually is. The research...

Mar 26, 2021

A 'lump' of dark matter may be ripping apart Taurus' face

The Hyades — a young, V-shaped cluster of stars swooshing through the head of the constellation Taurus — is slowly being ripped apart by an enormous, invisible mass, a new study suggests. This unrest in the bull's head could point to an ancient cache of dark matter left over from...

Apr 1, 2021

Dark matter 'annihilation' may be causing the Milky Way's center to glow

A mysterious glow coming from the center of the Milky Way might be caused by annihilating dark matter — elusive matter that emits no light. According to new research, heavy dark matter particles may be destructively colliding at the center of the galaxy, creating elementary particles, as well as gamma...

Apr 20, 2021

One of Earth's nearest stars may be a dark matter factory

Deep in its searing hot belly, the giant red star Betelgeuse could be producing tons of hypothetical dark matter particles called axions that, if they exist, would give off a telltale signal. A recent search for such a tantalizing emission has turned up empty, but helps physicists place new limits...

May 4, 2021

Astronomers chart invisible ocean of dark matter swirling outside the Milky Way

A mysterious wake of stars, stirred up by a small galaxy that is set to collide with the Milky Way, could be about to unlock the mysteries of dark matter. The trail of stars, located outside the star-flecked spiral arms of the Milky Way's central disk in a region called...

May 28, 2021

Dark matter map reveals new filaments connecting galaxies

A new map of dark matter made using artificial intelligence reveals hidden filaments of the invisible stuff bridging galaxies. The map focuses on the local universe — the neighborhood surrounding the Milky Way. Despite being close by, the local universe is difficult to map because it's chock full of complex...

Jun 26, 2021

Already-weird galaxy found to have oddly little dark matter

Astronomers may not know what dark matter is, but they do know that galaxies are supposed to contain a lot of the shadowy, invisible substance. Dark matter makes up the lion's share of a galaxy's mass, and it's critical to hold a galaxy's stars, gas and dust together. So, when...

Jul 8, 2021

Can we explain dark matter by adding more dimensions to the universe?

Dark matter could be even weirder than anyone thought, say cosmologists who are suggesting this mysterious substance that accounts for more than 80% of the universe's mass could interact with itself. We live in an ocean of dark matter, yet we know very little about what it could be, Flip...

Aug 30, 2021

Quantum crystal could reveal the identity of dark matter

Using a quirk of quantum mechanics, researchers have created a beryllium crystal capable of detecting incredibly weak electromagnetic fields. The work could one day be used to detect hypothetical dark matter particles called axions. The researchers created their quantum crystal by trapping 150 charged beryllium particles or ions using a...

Sep 1, 2021

Is dark matter made of 'Fermi balls' forged in the Big Bang?

Dark matter — the mysterious substance that exerts gravity but doesn't interact with light — might be made of tiny black holes permeating the universe. And according to a new theory, those black holes might have been made from Fermi balls, or quantum bags of subatomic particles known as fermions...

Sep 14, 2021

Travel through galaxies and the dark matter web in this stunning universe simulation

A new simulation of the universe is a map and a time machine rolled up into one. Called Uchuu, which is Japanese for Outer Space, the map doesn't include Casseipoia or the moons of Neptune; instead, it's a map of large-scale galaxies and galaxy clusters, all glued together by an...

Sep 16, 2021

A 10 billion-year-old supernova will soon replay before our eyes, new dark matter study predicts

The universe is an endless expanse of mystery, majesty and mind-blowing spectacle. So why, a few years from now, is the cosmos airing a rerun of a supernova explosion that we already watched in 2016? Known as Supernova Requiem, the faint glint of an ancient, 10 billion-year-old explosion is expected...

Oct 18, 2021

Astronomers spot dark matter creating eerie clones of a distant galaxy

Astronomers have finally explained three perfectly identical galaxies in the deepest recesses of space — the cosmic triplets are actually just one galaxy, but its image has been multiplied by dark matter. The galactic doppelgangers were discovered by accident in 2013 by the astronomer Timothy Hamilton of Shawnee State University...

Dec 3, 2021

Dark matter may spawn more of itself from ordinary matter, like a cosmic ice-9

Dark matter, one of weirdest substances in the universe, just got weirder. Turns out, this mysterious (and invisible) material could multiply by converting garden-variety matter into more dark matter, like some kind of cosmic ice-9, researchers reported Nov. 3 in the journal Physical Review Letters. This type of multiplication is...

Dec 8, 2021

This faraway galaxy may be completely devoid of dark matter

On the surface, a galaxy 250 million light-years from Earth seems like any other, but a deeper look reveals a puzzling quirk: It seems to have no dark matter. If these galaxies are ultimately confirmed to be devoid of dark matter, it could upend fundamental theories about the making of...