Thread: Dark Matter

In astronomy and cosmology, dark matter is a theoretical form of matter that is undetectable by its emitted radiation, but whose presence can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter.^[1] According to present observations of structures larger than galaxies, as well as Big Bang cosmology, dark matter and dark energy could account for the vast majority of the mass in the observable universe.

So, scientifically speaking, dark matter is about as observable as the presence of God?

Theoretical
Undetectable
Presence can be inferred from...
"could account for..."



OK, let's go!

Nope, I would rather just wait until they either prove it or disprove it...
Then again maybe Dark Matter is a God????? or maybe "Heaven" resides inside Dark Matter???? So many things to ponder Like do I mod this blade or do I leave it Vintage so many things that need my pondering

A timely subject. Nothing conclusive yet, but recently there have been encouraging results in an experiment devised to detect the hypothetical components of dark matter.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Nope, I would rather just wait until they either prove it or disprove it...
Then again maybe Dark Matter is a God????? or maybe "Heaven" resides inside Dark Matter???? So many things to ponder Like do I mod this blade or do I leave it Vintage so many things that need my pondering

To ponder, or not to ponder, that is indeed the question! Nah, I'll leave it.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Nope, I would rather just wait until they either prove it or disprove it...
Then again maybe Dark Matter is a God????? or maybe "Heaven" resides inside Dark Matter???? So many things to ponder Like do I mod this blade or do I leave it Vintage so many things that need my pondering

Mod it! You know you want to

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but the presence of dark matter in the universe IS observable. In fact, it's the observations that led scientists to conclude that there is such a thing as dark matter. To put it simply, we can calculate how much matter there is in a given galaxy by adding up the amount of observable matter (basically, stars), and we can calculate the rate of rotation of each galaxy. The problem is that the rate of rotation and the amount of matter are related to each other by some very basic laws of physics, but the observations of matter and rotation do not add up, no matter where you look. Which is why people suspect that there is some other large quantity of matter in each galaxy that is affecting the rate of rotation but otherwise is not part of the galaxy's stars, hence dark matter.

In other words, the mystery is really limited what dark matter actually is. And there wouldn't be much of a mystery there either if we had practical ways to travel interstellar distances, but right now, basically the only way that we know what something outside our solar system is composed of is by observing its radiation, and there is apparently no radiation from dark matter (that's the dark part) so we just don't know what it is.

Now, if you want to talk about a physical phenomenon that is analogous to God, maybe you should stick to dark energy, but I digress . . . !

Originally Posted by JeffE

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but the presence of dark matter in the universe IS observable. In fact, it's the observations that led scientists to conclude that there is such a thing as dark matter. To put it simply, we can calculate how much matter there is in a given galaxy by adding up the amount of observable matter (basically, stars), and we can calculate the rate of rotation of each galaxy. The problem is that the rate of rotation and the amount of matter are related to each other by some very basic laws of physics, but the observations of matter and rotation do not add up, no matter where you look. Which is why people suspect that there is some other large quantity of matter in each galaxy that is affecting the rate of rotation but otherwise is not part of the galaxy's stars, hence dark matter.

In other words, the mystery is really limited what dark matter actually is. And there wouldn't be much of a mystery there either if we had practical ways to travel interstellar distances, but right now, basically the only way that we know what something outside our solar system is composed of is by observing its radiation, and there is apparently no radiation from dark matter (that's the dark part) so we just don't know what it is.

Now, if you want to talk about a physical phenomenon that is analogous to God, maybe you should stick to dark energy, but I digress . . . !

And this is part of my argument. It doesn't add up.

So, with some hand waving, scientists say "let there be dark matter", and behold it was good, because it filled in the missing blanks on their calculations.....

So, there could possibly be such a thing as dark matter, or perhaps the original calculations are in error in some regard when dealing with things on that scale?

Originally Posted by Seraphim

And this is part of my argument. It doesn't add up.

So, with some hand waving, scientists say "let there be dark matter", and behold it was good, because it filled in the missing blanks on their calculations.....

So, there could possibly be such a thing as dark matter, or perhaps the original calculations are in error in some regard when dealing with things on that scale?

If you are trying to explain the existence of God(s) with dark matter, you are doing yourself a bad favor.
There are surely blanks, and even errors in scientific calculators, but as the time goes by they will get explanation.
That is not the same with religion. People in faith do not have blanks or errors.

I never repeat myself and now i do it again Faith doesn't need scientific proof. All you need to do is believe and that's it.
That is not the same with sciences. All the blanks and errors need reassessment and more calculations. Not closing eyes.
Those who in faith believe there was a dude who could wake up people from the death. Those who rely on science know he had a defibrillator.

Originally Posted by Seraphim

So, with some hand waving, scientists say "let there be dark matter", and behold it was good, because it filled in the missing blanks on their calculations.....

No. The certain presence of dark matter is also observable through gravitational lensing.

YouTube - Hubblecast 05: Hubble finds ring of dark matter