Fritz%20Zwicky%20and%20Dark%20Matter

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Fritz Zwicky and Dark Matter

• Wes Donehower

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The Missing Mass Problem

• 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

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Dark Matter

• 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

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Dark Matter

• 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.

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MACHOs and WIMPs

• WIMP (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles)
• Smaller than atoms
• MACHO (Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo
  Objects)
• Black Holes
• Brown Dwarfs

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Dark Matter

• It is believed that Dark Matter could make up 90
  of our Universe
• Some scientist are skeptical of WIMPs existence,
  but it seems unlikely that MACHOs could make up
  90 of our Universe
• The discovery of Dark Matter would affect our
  place in the Universe