What is dark matter and how much of it is there in the Universe? Detailed answer

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What is dark matter and how much of it is there in the Universe? Detailed answer

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What is dark matter and how much of it is there in the universe?

Astronomers can only directly observe objects that emit electromagnetic radiation, including light (one of the few exceptions is neutrinos).

However, a significant part of the cosmic matter itself may not emit light and may not be illuminated by a nearby star, remain completely opaque and not reflect any radiation (as, for example, this happens with coal). Or, conversely, be so transparent that it cannot be seen even when illuminated (for example, if it consists of a number of crystals, gas or elementary particles).

In astronomy, and even more often in cosmology, such matter is called dark matter. Nevertheless, some processes take place in dark matter, since various forms of matter and energy appear in interconnection. In addition, the mass and gravitational field of dark matter affect the movement of observed celestial objects - stars, galaxies and their clusters.

Observations of supernovae in distant galaxies led astronomers to the conclusion that the expansion of the Universe is accelerated, which indicates the presence of hidden (dark) energy in it as well.

According to modern concepts, visible (observable) matter makes up only about 4 percent of the total mass of the Universe, and the rest of its mass manifests itself in the form of dark matter (about 23 percent) and dark energy (about 73 percent).

Author: Kondrashov A.P.

Random interesting fact from the Great Encyclopedia:

What religion curses people by poking pins at dolls?

In the voodoo religion (known as vodun in Benin, voudou in Haiti, and vudu in the Dominican Republic), there is no practice of poking dolls with pins to harm someone.

Witchcraft voodoo rites are a much more complicated thing. The religious cult of voodoo originated in West Africa, from where, with dark-skinned slaves, he came to America and the Caribbean islands.

At the heart of all voodoo rituals is healing. Perhaps the closest thing to what is generally considered a "voodoo doll" is a wooden "bocheo" (literally - "figure endowed with power") with small holes in the torso. To direct the healing energy to the right place, wooden twigs were inserted into the appropriate holes.

The "voodoo doll" of popular myth actually goes back to the European poppet ("doll", "puppet") (from the Latin pupa, "doll") figurine traditionally used for witchcraft. Poppet, in turn, goes back to ancient Greek dolls that were used as protective sculptural images - the so-called kolossoi. Made of clay, wax, cloth stuffed with cotton, grain or fruit, the doll became the personification of the object of witchcraft: everything that was done with the doll had to happen to a person.

King James I mentions them in his Demonology (1603):

"Some of the others I speak of he (the devil) taught how to make images from wax or clay: when these images are placed on fire, the people they represent and whose names are inscribed on them begin to wither and fade from the constantly tormenting them from this moment of illness.

As for the image of voodoo followers as practicing "black magic" forbidden in Europe, the unconditional "merit" in its creation belongs to the early colonists and slave owners, who, for more piquancy, seasoned their stories with cannibalism, zombies and human sacrifices. It was stories like these that fired the imagination of the crowd in the first place and whetted the appetite of the creators of the first motion pictures and cheap pulp novels, instilling in them an obsession with voodoo as something terrible and dark.

Sticking pins into people and contemplating their suffering is not an alien idea for Christianity. Some of the more ominous images of the crucifixion of the Counter-Reformation are written out so blatantly that they leave little room for the imagination.

Today, a balance has been established between voodoo and Christianity: both traditions coexist quite peacefully. A famous Haitian proverb says: "Haitians are eighty percent Catholic and one hundred percent voodoo."

Test your knowledge! Did you know...

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