Dark Matter: In Galaxy Clusters

Dark Matter Dark matter is simply matter that does not interact with light. Dark matter does not absorb light, it does not reflect light, it has not relation to the electromagnetic scale whatsoever. Dark matter cannot be seen; therefore, dark matter cannot be observed by physicists. Physicists still know it is there though. The reason physicists know dark matter is abundant is because of its effects on nature. For instance, wind cannot be seen, but it is still there, interacting with nature around it. Think of it as dark matter leaves footprints behind in the sand. It gives little clues to its physical nature, left behind in the sand. Euaggelos Zotos perfectly describes what dark matter is and its implications,
“One of the most interesting, …show more content…
A galaxy cluster is just a cluster of galaxies orbiting one another. There are two ways to find the mass of a galaxy. One way to find the mass of a galaxy is looking at the brightness of it; another way to calculate the mass is based on the orbital speed of the galaxies. When comparing the masses it is apparent that the masses are not equivalent in galaxy clusters. That is where dark matter comes in. There must be some sort of matter that cannot be seen visually making up a large portion of the mass. It is a well-known fact with physicists that dark matter actually makes up about twenty seven percent of the observable …show more content…
When looking at a star, the light is usually coming straight at the observer. Place a galaxy in front of the start and it bends the light from the star around the galaxy causing gravitational lensing. Depending on how much the light is bending, it can estimate the size of a galaxy, due to the fact that the more mass something has the more gravitational pull will be in effect. After estimating the size, then measure the amount of matter in the galaxy. After finishing the calculations it is clear that the mass is not equivalent comparing the two methods. This, again, hints at the fact that dark matter is the source of this.
Once again, dark matter may not even be there. Physicists can only detect the clues it leaves behind and not observe the actual thing. Many other scientists out there also believe dark matter is faulty. "Every time the basic big bang model has failed to predict what we see, the solution has been to bolt on something new — inflation, dark matter, and dark energy, ‘Scarpa says’” (Chown, 2005, para. 3). Although it is the most accepted theory out there, many physicists still reject the idea of dark matter and dark energy. No one knows the source of their dark nature which could leave them feeling