what is dark matter??

Answer 1

As I see the most are in "copy-paste" technique from wickipaedia.
I will not use the "wiki" source.

Dark matter is a big question mark for astronomers and scientists generally. but soon to be resolved...check these sites.;)
Dark matter . . . What is it? Nobody knows for sure, but it’s definitely there. Or maybe it’s not there, and we just need some redefinition of gravity at vast scales.

http://www.universetoday.com/2006/10/02/podcast-the-search-for-dark-matter/

http://www.sciencedaily.com/encyclopedia/Dark_matter

http://www.sciencedaily.com/encyclopedia/Dark_matter#Hypothesizing_dark_matter

Answer 2

What is Dark Matter?
The story of dark matter is best divided into two parts. First we have the reasons that we know that it exists. Second is the collection of possible explanations as to what it is.

Why the Universe Needs Dark Matter
We believe that that the Universe is critically balanced between being open and closed. We derive this fact from the observation of the large scale structure of the Universe. It requires a certain amount of matter to accomplish this result. Call it M.

What is Dark Matter?
This is the open question. There are many possibilities, and nobody really knows much about this yet. Here are a few of the many published suggestions, which are being currently hunted for by experimentalists all over the world. Remember, you need at least one baryonic candidate and one non-baryonic candidate to make everything work out, so there there may be more than one correct choice among the possibilities given here.

-Normal matter which has so far eluded our gaze, such as:
dark galaxies
brown dwarfs
planetary material (rock, dust, etc.)
-Massive Standard Model neutrinos. If any of the neutrinos are massive, then this could be the missing mass. On the other hand, if they are too heavy, as the purported 17 keV neutrino would have been, massive neutrinos create almost as many problems as they solve in this regard.
-Exotica (See the Particle Zoo FAQ entry for some details.)


And if this doesnt bore you then you may be able to read the entire article at the link given.

Hope you like it.

Peace out.

Answer 3

Details of dark matter are shown below:
In astrophysics, dark matter is matter that does not emit or reflect enough electromagnetic radiation (such as light, X-rays and so on) to be detected directly, but whose presence may be inferred from its gravitational effects on visible matter. Among the observed phenomena consistent with the existence of dark matter are the rotational speeds of galaxies and orbital velocities of galaxies in clusters, gravitational lensing of background objects by galaxy clusters such as the Bullet cluster, and the temperature distribution of hot gas in galaxies and clusters of galaxies. Dark matter also plays a central role in structure formation and Big Bang nucleosynthesis, and has measurable effects on the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background. All these lines of evidence suggest that galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and the universe as a whole contain far more matter than is directly observable, indicating that the remainder is dark.

The composition of dark matter is unknown, but may include new elementary particles such as WIMPs and axions, ordinary and heavy neutrinos, dwarf stars and planets collectively called MACHOs, and clouds of nonluminous gas. Current evidence favors models in which the primary component of dark matter is new elementary particles, collectively called nonbaryonic dark matter.

VR

Answer 4

In astrophysics, dark matter is matter that does not emit or reflect enough electromagnetic radiation (such as light, X-rays and so on) to be detected directly, but whose presence may be inferred from its gravitational effects on visible matter. Among the observed phenomena consistent with the existence of dark matter are the rotational speeds of galaxies and orbital velocities of galaxies in clusters, gravitational lensing of background objects by galaxy clusters such as the Bullet cluster, and the temperature distribution of hot gas in galaxies and clusters of galaxies. Dark matter also plays a central role in structure formation and Big Bang nucleosynthesis, and has measurable effects on the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background. All these lines of evidence suggest that galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and the universe as a whole contain far more matter than is directly observable, indicating that the remainder is dark.

The composition of dark matter is unknown, but may include new elementary particles such as WIMPs and axions, ordinary and heavy neutrinos, dwarf stars and planets collectively called MACHOs, and clouds of nonluminous gas. Current evidence favors models in which the primary component of dark matter is new elementary particles, collectively called nonbaryonic dark matter.

Answer 5

It is matter that is detected by the fact that objects are rotating to fast to abide by the formulae E = 1/2mv^2 unless there is this unseen "Dark matter" It is nonreflected mass that accounts for 25% of the universe and for 1kg of visible matter there is about 6 kg of dark matter

Answer 6

Dark matter is something that has been made up by proponents of the big bang in order to make the sums 'work'.
It has no experimental evidence.

The big bang and related ideas such as dark matter and dark energy are philopsophical ideas more than scientific ones.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v13/i1/milky_way.asp

Answer 7

In astrophysics, dark matter is matter that does not emit or reflect enough electromagnetic radiation (such as light, X-rays and so on) to be detected directly, but whose presence may be inferred from its gravitational effects on visible matter. Among the observed phenomena consistent with the existence of dark matter are the rotational speeds of galaxies and orbital velocities of galaxies in clusters, gravitational lensing of background objects by galaxy clusters such as the Bullet cluster, and the temperature distribution of hot gas in galaxies and clusters of galaxies. Dark matter also plays a central role in structure formation and Big Bang nucleosynthesis, and has measurable effects on the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background. All these lines of evidence suggest that galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and the universe as a whole contain far more matter than is directly observable, indicating that the remainder is dark.

The composition of dark matter is unknown, but may include new elementary particles such as WIMPs and axions, ordinary and heavy neutrinos, dwarf stars and planets collectively called MACHOs, and clouds of nonluminous gas. Current evidence favors models in which the primary component of dark matter is new elementary particles, collectively called nonbaryonic dark matter.

The dark matter component has vastly more mass than the "visible" component of the universe. [1] At present, the density of ordinary baryons and radiation in the universe is estimated to be equivalent to about one hydrogen atom per cubic metre of space. Only about 4% of the total energy density in the universe (as inferred from gravitational effects) can be seen directly. About 22% is thought to be composed of dark matter. The remaining 74% is thought to consist of dark energy, an even stranger component, distributed diffusely in space. [2] Some hard-to-detect baryonic matter (see baryonic dark matter) makes a contribution to dark matter, but constitutes only a small portion. [3] [4] Determining the nature of this missing mass is one of the most important problems in modern cosmology and particle physics. It has been noted that dark matter and dark energy serve mainly as expressions of our ignorance, much as the marking of early maps with terra incognita. [2]

Basically dark matter is stuff in space that does not give off its own light or reflect visable light

Answer 8

Energy

Answer 9

It's what my former college roommate had in his skivies every time he did his laundry(-;

Answer 10

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter