Dark matter “particles” could have the mass of a dwarf planet
Scientists have struggled for decades to identify the constituent particles of dark matter, but they’ve had little to show for all their efforts. A new study at Case Western Reserve University is now advancing the radical new hypothesis that dark matter may in fact be made not of exotic subatomic particles, but rather of macroscopic objects which would mass anywhere from a tennis ball to a dwarf planet, be as dense as a neutron star, and still be adequately described by the Standard Model of particle physics.
Dark matter constitutes approximately 27 percent of the mass-energy of the Universe, trumping the measly five percent of ordinary matter. Although it can’t be observed directly, we know it must be there because of the strong gravitational effects it exerts on ordinary matter as it distorts incoming light and helps new galaxies form.
more…