what is dark matter? can anyone suggest an easy to understand book on this subject?

Question

Any info on black holes would be good too!

Answer 1

Dark matter is associated wih dark energy. It fills the universe, making spacetime flat. Nobody knows what it is, but it makes the universe expand.

There is evidence for dark matter; only a 1/5th of the particles calculated to have been produced in the Big Bang are visible, therefor 4/5ths are "dark".

There are claims of detecting a dark matter signal, at a projct called DAMA (DArk MAtter), in Italy. These claims are not confirmed though.

A FANTASTIC book on the subject is The Universe: A Biography, by John Gribbin.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Universe-Biography-John-Gribbin/dp/0713998571

This book takes you right through the creation of the Universe, and explains everything in laymans terms.

Answer 2

Dark matter is simply, matter that we belive must be out in the universe that we cant see. Some things with mass in the universe have motions due to gravational energy that we cant account for, thus there must be dark matter that is creating these other gravtational pulls. Among other things. The Universe in a nutshell is a great book with lots of info on the universe.. Quantum mechanics, light, black holes, dark matter, relativity and more!

Answer 3

First, dark mass/energy is not a black hole...they are totally different phenoms. Second, dark matter is not anti-matter; it's just ordinary matter that cannot be seen under normal circumstances.

Dark mass/energy was first postulated when it was realized that galaxies should be flying apart from their own rotation and consequent centrifugal forces. That results from the fact that gravity from observable mass (from the stars, stellar clouds, planets, etc.) was not enough to keep galaxies from flying apart.

Something else was creating the sufficient gravity to keep galaxies together. And, since no one at the time could see that "something else," they called in dark mass/matter/energy.

However, as recent as 2006, some people at Stanford have seen dark matter as it was caused to glow by two colliding galaxies. Thus, dark matter is no longer just a theory. [See sources.]

Answer 4

black holes are objects in space that have super high gravity and possibly inifinte gravity if they teleport you to someother place in universe

they are formed when a star collapses

Dark matter is something that makes up majority of our universe(~90%) but hasnt been discoverd yet.

its not visible because it neither emits nor reflects electromagnetic radiation, such as light or radio signals.

Answer 5

For me, a good short definition of dark matter is anything you can't see in a telescope.