Dark Matter Telescope

It may seem absurd to have a dark matter telescope, because after all, as the name implies, you can’t see the stuff. Whatever form a dark matter telescope comes in, it isn’t going to be as simple as stepping outside with a telescope and just seeing it as you would the moon.

For starters, the mass, which makes up roughly a quarter of the mass in the universe, it’s much to see. It’s a type of particle that is dispersed widely throughout the universe and its particles affect the earth every day. Given this type of particle, it wouldn’t be an object to just look at as you would a star. Instead, it would be akin to looking at air with a telescope.

However, the effects of the matter can be observed through indirect means. Mainly, these apply to very advanced telescopes that can detect subtle variations in light and radiation. Like any other mass in the universe, such as the sun, dark matter has weight and it affects objects in light just the same. This allows astronomers and other scientists to observe differences in the way light and objects should theoretically move through universe versus how they actually do. This difference is accounted for by the mysterious dark mass. One of the most common instances of this is gravitational lensing, where light is bent around a particularly heavy body. This is clear when light moves around starts, but when it bends around empty space then we know that’s where dark matter is present.

When people say dark matter telescope, what they probably mean is particle detector rather than something to look through. For now, you’ll just have to accept that dark matter is just that – dark.

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