What is dark matter?
Dark matter is the term astronomers use for the matter that they detect in the universe which cannot be seen. What I mean by this is that although when you look through a telescope nothing appears to be there, the way that the visible matter moves indicates that there must be more mass present. It is currently thought that about 10% of the matter in the universe is visible, the rest is something we don't understand.
Still Curious?
Get More 'Curious?' with Our New PODCAST:
- Podcast? Subscribe? Tell me about the Ask an Astronomer Podcast
- Subscribe to our Podcast | Listen to our current Episode
- Cool! But I can't now. Send me a quick reminder now for later.
Related questions:
- Why doesn't dark matter fall into a black hole?
- Could photons be dark matter?
- How far does a galaxy extend?
- What makes up most of the Universe?
- Could a different theory of gravity explain the dark matter mystery?
- Are there any dark stars or dark galaxies made of dark matter?
- What's the difference between dark matter and dark energy?
- How can we compare dark matter and dark energy?
- What is Hot Dark Matter theory?
- Could neutrinos be dark matter?
- Could the Universe's dark matter be made up of black holes?
More questions about Cosmology and the Big Bang: Previous | Next
How to ask a question:
If you have a follow-up question concerning the above subject, submit it here. If you have a question about another area of astronomy, find the topic you're interested in from the archive on our site menu, or go here for help.
Main Page | About Us | For Teachers | Astronomy Links | Ask a Question | View a Random Question | Our Podcast
URL: http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=361
This page has been accessed 28258 times since October 29, 2002.
Last modified: June 4, 2003 10:03:34 PM
Ask an Astronomer is hosted by the Astronomy Department at Cornell University and is produced with PHP and MySQL.
Warning: Your browser is misbehaving! This page might look ugly. (Details)


