A mass of gas bubbles close to Earth may reveal answers to our questions regarding the dark matter. It may seem far away, but it will soon touch base with the Milky Way galaxy.
The numerous bubbles are simply a trail of stars that is carried by the cosmic slipstream. Soon, the wake of the stars will join our galaxy, as its course is headed to the orbit around the Milky Way. In this case, we may observe and study the nearest and most definite form of dark matter.
These gas bubbles form around the Large Magellanic Cloud, a mini-version of a galaxy. The LMC orbits in an estimate of 130,000 light-years from Earth. LMC is followed by stars and other celestial objects that were initially on the galaxy's trail as it moves. However, these stars are dragged along and wholly contained in a large, invisible void. Researchers believe that this undetected presence is dark matter, reports Sprout Wired.
What is Dark Matter?
Dark matter is still a mystery for all of us. It is composed of a non-luminous substance that makes up most areas of the entire universe. It freely moves among regular matters, such as galaxies and celestial bodies. Experts are not sure if dark matter is beneficial for us or not. However, researches are still ongoing in the hope of gaining knowledge about the most mysterious matter humankind has ever encountered.
According to Live Science, more than 80% of the universe is made of dark matter. It doesn't emit light but exhibits a gravitational pull. Theories about the origins of dark matter are still vague, and we still can't point where it will appear next.
How Physicist Find Dark Matters
What physicists know is that it can be very tricky to find one. With that said, concrete evidence is being used to identify dark matter-how it interacts with luminous matters.
The way to spot one is through the materials we can see being pulled by the dark matter. This explains "halos" around massive galaxies scattered across the universe, including the one surrounding our very own Milky Way galaxy. The frustrating part is that once experts detect one, the next would be just gazing in a void area, looking for something we can not see. Other experts suggest using warm planets as indicators of dark matter presence, as reported by Wired.
As easy as it may seem, detecting dark matters is one of the most formidable but inspiring challenges in physics.
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Why Dark Matter Remains a Mystery
Most of the telescope trackers that experts have implemented were never able to find even small objects that can have the ability to represent dark matter. Some astronomers believe that dark matter consists of particles on the subatomic level; hence we must create a powerful but impossible device.
On a side note, dark matters are not the same as dark energy. But like dark matter, dark energy is another baffling phenomenon where it speeds up the expansion of the cosmos. To give you a heads up, the two share the work "dark" simply because it is a term used by scientists on unexplained variables or phenomena.
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