Uploaded August 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
When scientists first started to study the motion of galaxies and measured the amount of visible matter they contain, some things just didn’t add up. They noticed that the gravitational force needed to form large structures like our galaxy was too strong for the visible matter to produce by itself. If the galaxies were dependent only on the gravitational force of the visible matter, they simply wouldn't be able to form. So, all the stars and other materials would just disperse throughout the universe.
Scientists figured that since galaxies do exist despite the fact that there isn't enough visible matter to hold them together, there must be some kind of invisible matter all around them that is responsible for this extra gravity needed to form these structures. Since no light is emitted or reflected off this mysterious matter, it was named ‘dark matter’.
When scientists first started to study the motion of galaxies and measured the amount of visible matter they contain, some things just didn’t add up. They noticed that the gravitational force needed to form large structures like our galaxy was too strong for the visible matter to produce by itself. If the galaxies were dependent only on the gravitational force of the visible matter, they simply wouldn't be able to form. So, all the stars and other materials would just disperse throughout the universe.
Scientists figured that since galaxies do exist despite the fact that there isn't enough visible matter to hold them together, there must be some kind of invisible matter all around them that is responsible for this extra gravity needed to form these structures. Since no light is emitted or reflected off this mysterious matter, it was named ‘dark matter’.
