New Study Says Space Science Was Wrong in Understanding Dark Matter

According to researchers, the excess dark matter in several galaxies clearly points to the fact that space scientists have not understand these mysterious entities completely

Dark matter is one of the mysterious entities in the universe, and until now, space science has not succeeded in understanding it completely. And now, a new study has suggested that what humans have understood about the dark matter could be completely wrong.

Higher Concentration of Dark Matter in Galaxies

New data obtained from the Hubble Telescope indicates that concentration of dark matter is much higher in several galaxies, by over an order of magnitude. Interestingly, these concentrations are inconsistent with theoretical models, which suggests that there is a big flaw in our understanding of dark matter.

The research team who conducted the study revealed that the simulations created by space scientists could be incorrect, or there could be an unknown property of dark matter which scientists have not understood.

dark matter
Composite image of the Perseus galaxy cluster using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, ESA’s XMM-Newton and Hitomi, a Japanese-led X-ray telescope. X-ray: NASA/CXO/Fabian

"We have done a lot of careful testing in comparing the simulations and data in this study, and our finding of the mismatch persists. One possible origin for this discrepancy is that we may be missing some key physics in the simulations," said Massimo Meneghetti, an astrophysicist at the National Institute of Astrophysics in Italy, in a recent statement.

Mystery Surrounding Dark Matter Continues

Space scientists believe the study of the universe will be incomplete without knowing completely about dark matter, one of the most mysterious entities in the cosmos. Dark matter does not absorb, reflect, or emit any electromagnetic radiation which makes it completely undetectable in a direct way. However, the dark matter used to interact with the visible matter in the universe via gravity.

During the study, researchers found that there is a much greater concentration of dark matter in some individual galaxies, and this excess matter is not allowed in simulations. Interestingly, these simulations were created with the best understanding humans have about dark matter, and this excess dark matter revealed that space science is wrong about understanding this mysterious entity.

A few months back, Jamie Farnes, a top expert at the University of Oxford, had suggested that 95 percent of the universe is made up of a dark fluid with negative mass. According to Farnes, this 95 percent of unknown matter is basically a single unified dark fluid of negative masses.

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