Transcript Fritz Zwicky and Dark Matter

Fritz Zwicky and Dark Matter
Wes Donehower
The “Missing Mass” Problem
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In 1933, Zwicky was studying galaxies
and he estimated their total mass by
measuring their brightness
Then, he used a different method of
measuring the mass, and came up with
a number 400x his estimate
Nobody did anything about it
Dark Matter
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When scientists
began to realize that
large amounts of
hidden mass would
explain a lot of their
findings, they began
to search for “Dark
Matter”
Dark Matter
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Dark matter cannot be
seen or felt; Its
existence is implied
Could be subatomic
particles lighter than an
electron or black holes
millions of time more
massive than the Sun.
MACHO’s and WIMP’s
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WIMP (Weakly Interacting Massive
Particles)
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Smaller than atoms
MACHO (Massive Astrophysical
Compact Halo Objects)
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Black Holes
Brown Dwarfs
Dark Matter
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It is believed that Dark Matter could
make up 90% of our Universe
Some scientist are skeptical of WIMP’s
existence, but it seems unlikely that
MACHO’s could make up 90% of our
Universe
The discovery of Dark Matter would
affect our place in the Universe