Dark Matter: Evil or Helpful?

Dark matter and energy are a needed part of our universe, yet unseen by all forms of technology. Dark matter and energy are proven to exist by their gravitational forces, but by sight, it is otherwise invisible. What’s even more terrifying, is the fact that most of the material in the universe is made up of such discrete particles. 

Now, what is our need for dark matter and energy? Dark energy is one of the factors of universal expansion, due to its ability to pull galaxies apart. Dark matter on the other hand pulls galaxies together, stabilizing dark energy to not cause universes to expand at a breakneck speed. The theory of dark energy was first developed in the 1920s, when astronomers discovered that galaxies were moving away from Earth and that the farther they were from us, the faster they moved. This discovery combined with Einstein’s theory of relativity lead to the conclusion that the universe was constantly expanding. Another discovery was made in 1998 by two separate research groups concluding that some unseen force was counterattacking gravity to cause the universe to expand faster. All of this research led to the coining of the term “dark energy” for the name controlling the force of the universe and how it was hidden from eyes. 

Galaxy clusters are also viable pieces of evidence when proving the existence of dark matter for example. Galaxy clusters contain thousands of galaxies and their own dark matter. Researchers have seen movement within said galaxy clusters, and have concluded that the movement is from dark matter pushing the galaxies together. The more recorded movement in the galaxy clusters, the more dark matter content there is. 

Works Cited 

Harvard and Smithsonian. (n.d.). Dark energy and dark matter. Dark Energy and Dark Matter | Center for Astrophysics. Retrieved February 24, 2022, from https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/research/topic/dark-energy-and-dark-matter#:~:text=We%20call%20that%20mysterious%20force,dark%20energy%20pushes%20them%20apart. 

NASA. (n.d.). Dark Energy, dark matter. NASA. Retrieved February 24, 2022, from https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-is-dark-energy