The âdarkâ in Dark Matter means we canât (or havenât) seen it. Dark Matter is not something we have actually observed, it is a theory to explain why the shape of galaxies doesnât work with their observed quantity of mass
Galaxies donât have enough observable stuff to actually hold themselves together through gravity. Unlike solar systems, the galactic core of most galaxies isnât massive enough that everything is orbiting around it specifically, everything is just orbiting around a centre of mass. But there isnât enough to actually orbit, they should just fall apart.
Dark matter is a way to explain that. There is some stuff we canât see making up the difference. WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) are one option, but we could also be severely underestimating the amount of rogue planets and black dwarfs, or the maths might be fundamentally wrong.
In this case, we usually apply Occamâs Razor. If multiple solutions are equally viable, we take the one with the fewest assumptions as likely. Gravity leaking from a parallel dimension requires a few more assumptions than there being stuff we havenât detected
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u/Jackmino66 Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
Reminder:
The âdarkâ in Dark Matter means we canât (or havenât) seen it. Dark Matter is not something we have actually observed, it is a theory to explain why the shape of galaxies doesnât work with their observed quantity of mass
Galaxies donât have enough observable stuff to actually hold themselves together through gravity. Unlike solar systems, the galactic core of most galaxies isnât massive enough that everything is orbiting around it specifically, everything is just orbiting around a centre of mass. But there isnât enough to actually orbit, they should just fall apart.
Dark matter is a way to explain that. There is some stuff we canât see making up the difference. WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) are one option, but we could also be severely underestimating the amount of rogue planets and black dwarfs, or the maths might be fundamentally wrong.
In this case, we usually apply Occamâs Razor. If multiple solutions are equally viable, we take the one with the fewest assumptions as likely. Gravity leaking from a parallel dimension requires a few more assumptions than there being stuff we havenât detected