Dark matter makes up 85% of all matter in the Universe, but astronomers have never seen it.
The nature of this mysterious something remains largely unknown.
But, astronomers and physicists know something (and a LOT of it) is out there.
Without dark matter, galaxies would tear apart, and clusters of galaxies would fly to pieces.
This gravitational bond between dark matter and normal matter is how it was first detected.
Can dark matter be seen?
One detector to do so uses these white detectors with a golden inside, looking like track lighting.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
This is akin to a pair of people walking around a completely dark room.
Theseparticleswere first proposed around 1930 by physicist Wolfgang Pauli, based on his theoretical studies of radioactive decay.
He originally wanted to call the neutrally-charged particles neutrons but did not publish his suggestion.
That name was soon taken by the discovery of the particle we now call neutrons.
Pauli soon settled on the name neutrino for his proposed particle, meaning little neutral one in Italian.
These building blocks of matter were first found in experiments in 1956.
Whod you call a WIMP?
This would make them even harder to spot than the tricky regular neutrinos.
In the video above, a time-lapse photo of the installation of the inner detector of the LZ detector.
This instrument will remain sealed for five years until it is decommissioned.
Researchers set their sights on two types of interactions between dark and regular matter.
Inside the instrument sits 10 metric tons (11 tons) of liquid xenon.
The data is already basically sitting there.
Its just a matter of looking at it,Dror said.
Signals produced asneutrinosstrike protons or neutrons inside the nucleus of an atom can be predicted.
This article was originally published onThe Cosmic CompanionbyJames Maynard, founder and publisher of The Cosmic Companion.
you’ve got the option to read this original piecehere.
Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companionis also available as a weekly podcast, carried on all major podcast providers.
