What are Dark Matter and Dark Energy?

The Universe is more mysterious than you think. That is because of dark matter and dark energy, which takes up most of the cosmos but is invisible. So, what are dark matter and dark energy?

Why Are Scientists Confident about their Existence?

First of all, we have to talk about the expansion of the Universe. It starts with a big bang, in which the cosmos is literally inflating. But, over the years, it slowed down because gravity is fighting back. However, at some point, the Universe is enlarging at an accelerating rate. Scientists are confused and puzzled, so they hypothesize an energy that pushes the speedometer forward.

Moreover, some researchers discovered that, for galaxies and other more humongous structures to form, only normal matter is not enough. Therefore, scientists are also quite sure that dark matter exists to provide more mass to these objects.

Their Features

We only know one thing about them: dark matter and dark energy neither emits nor react with light. Moreover, dark matter is neither particles in dark clouds nor antimatter: They can’t fit within the category. That means we can’t directly observe them, but scientists are working hard for the results.

Also, the composition of nature is peculiar and unreal. That is because dark matter accounts for about 27% of the entire Universe, and another 68% is dark energy! This information indicates that visible matter and energy, including stars, planets, galaxies, rocks, and even different kinds of energy, is not the whole thing! It’s just a twentieth of it.

Other Theories

However, other theories explain the same phenomenon. Maybe this expansion’s acceleration is solely caused by a flaw in the gravitational field or a new rule and/or an undiscovered physical constant. All in all, what we currently know about the Universe can’t explain the unusual phenomenon yet. Our observations can go wrong in some rarer cases, and this hypothesis may not even match with the results.

Conclusion

So, here’s the explanation of what are dark matter and dark energy. We also explained their possible features and what they can be or their alternatives. We hope you can learn more about the puzzling topic from the references below.

References and Credits

1. (2019, June 27). Dark Matter | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids. Retrieved December 6, 2020, from https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/dark-matter/en/
2. (n.d.). Dark Energy, Dark Matter – NASA Science Mission Directorate. Retrieved December 6, 2020, from https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-is-dark-energy
3. (2014, May 7). The Story of Our Universe | NASA. Retrieved December 6, 2020, from https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/planck/multimedia/pia16876b.html