Tiny Clumps of Dark Matter

Dark matter is a mystery in science. When astronomers look at the speed at which stars rotate around a galaxy, they are led to believe there must be missing mass we cannot see. The speeds remain constant the farther they are from the galactic center, but based on the mass we can see, the speed should drop. This tells us there is additional gravity driving the rotation around the galaxy. This missing, unseen mass is called dark matter.

Dark matter is a great area of interest in physics and astronomy today because we truly don't know what it is!!! We can see its effects in the Universe but can't see what it actually is! The leading theory is dark matter is composed of weakly interacting particles that have mass. We can't see them because they rarely, if ever, interact and give off light of any kind. Astronomers are trying to find a dark matter particle through state of the art particle colliders, like the Large Hadron Collider, but so far have been unsuccessful.

This lack of success, however, has not stopped astronomers from studying dark matter, and a new study finds tiny clumps of dark matter in galaxies.

Hubble Finds Teeny Tiny Clumps of Dark Matter

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers found tiny clumps of dark matter be examining light from distant quasars through a method called gravitational lensing. Super cool! Pun intended since space is cold. Get it? Get it?!?!? LOL!

Astronomers may not have the answers on dark matter, but they are looking hard and I'm convinced it will be less than a decade and we'll have an answer. Check back with me in 2030!