Everything we see is just a fraction of the universe. Most of it, including dark matter, remains invisible. What is it made of? That’s still a mystery. Our viewer Ernesto L. from Argentina had a question about that.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Is there solid proof that dark matter exists?
00:07Everything we see makes up only a small fraction of the universe.
00:14Scientists believe about 80% of all matter is something invisible.
00:19Dark matter.
00:21Astronomers suspect its existence because what we observe in space doesn't add up with visible matter alone.
00:29Light bending around galaxies is deflected more than expected, suggesting there's extra unseen mass influencing it.
00:38And if we only account for visible matter, the way stars orbit their galaxies doesn't make sense either.
00:45Something must be holding galaxies together, like an invisible glue.
00:50Dark matter.
00:52What it's made of is still a mystery.
00:59But we can measure its effects.
01:01Dark matter's gravity bends light, forcing it onto curved paths.
01:08Astronomers use this to their advantage.
01:13With sensitive telescopes, they analyze specific parts of outer space, tracking how light has traveled for billions of years.
01:21That helps them map dark matter's distribution.
01:24And with ever more precise data, that map keeps improving.
01:33Since February 2024, the European Space Telescope Euclid has been scanning the sky.
01:40Its mission is to chart dark matter's spread over the last 10 billion years with unprecedented accuracy.
01:49According to theory, dark matter shaped the structure of the universe.
01:53Where it condensed in certain areas, its gravity pulled in ordinary matter, forming stars, galaxies, and vast galaxy clusters.
02:07So far, our measurements of dark matter align with this idea.
02:15Computer simulations add another layer of indirect evidence.
02:19They compress billions of years into seconds, modeling how galaxies and galaxy clusters evolved.
02:26The results are clear.
02:28Without dark matter, the universe wouldn't look the way it does today.