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[sci.astro] Galaxies (Astronomy Frequently Asked Questions) (8/9)
Section - H.02.2 How much dark matter is there?

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Top Document: [sci.astro] Galaxies (Astronomy Frequently Asked Questions) (8/9)
Previous Document: H.02.1 Evidence for dark matter
Next Document: H.02.3 What is the dark matter?
See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge
A convenient way of quoting mass estimates is via Omega, the ratio of
the density contributed by some objects to the "critical density" = 3
H^2 / 8 pi G, where H is the Hubble constant and G is the universal
constant of gravitation.  The critical density is the amount of matter
that would be just sufficient to stop the expansion of the Universe
and is 10^{-29} g/cm^3.  (Of course, portions of the Universe have a
higher density than this, e.g., you, but this is an average density.)
The visible stars in galaxies contribute about 1 percent of critical
density, i.e., Omega_stars ~ 0.01; dark halos around galaxies
contribute Omega_halos ~ 0.05; mass estimates from clusters tend to
give Omega_clus ~ 0.2 (assuming the ratio of dark matter to stars is
the same in clusters as everywhere else); and theoretical
considerations (i.e., inflation) favor Omega_total = 1.  The gap
between 0.05 and 0.2 can be explained if galaxy halos extend further
out than we can measure the rotation curves, but if Omega_total = 1 we
may require extra dark matter in intergalactic space.

It's also interesting to consider the dark matter density "locally."
Within a few hundred parsecs of the Sun, this is about 0.01 Solar
masses per cubic parsec, or about 0.3 proton masses per cm^3; that's
only about 1/10 of the density of visible matter (mostly stars);
though it's much larger than critical density because we live in a
galaxy.  However, because the stars are in a thin disk while the dark
matter is more spherical, if you take an 8 kpc radius sphere centred
on the Galaxy and passing through the Sun, roughly half the mass in
this sphere is dark matter If you consider a larger sphere, e.g., out
to the Large Magellanic Cloud at 50 kpc radius, over 80% of the mass
in it is dark matter.  This estimate was first made by Jan Oort, and
the estimate of the *total* mass density near the Sun is today termed
the Oort limit in his honor.

User Contributions:

1
Keith Phemister
Sep 13, 2024 @ 11:23 pm
Copied from above: If the Universe were infinitely old, infinite in extent, and filled
with stars, then every direction you looked would eventually end on
the surface of a star, and the whole sky would be as bright as the
surface of the Sun.
Why would anyone assume this? Certainly, we have directions where we look that are dark because something that does not emit light (is not a star) is between us and the light. A close example is in our own solar system. When we look at the Sun (a star) during a solar eclipse the Moon blocks the light. When we look at the inner planets of our solar system (Mercury and Venus) as they pass between us and the Sun, do we not get the same effect, i.e. in the direction of the planet we see no light from the Sun? Those planets simply look like dark spots on the Sun.
Olbers' paradox seems to assume that only stars exist in the universe, but what about the planets? Aren't there more planets than stars, thus more obstructions to light than sources of light?
What may be more interesting is why can we see certain stars seemingly continuously. Are there no planets or other obstructions between them and us? Or is the twinkle in stars just caused by the movement of obstructions across the path of light between the stars and us? I was always told the twinkle defines a star while the steady light reflected by our planets defines a planet. Is that because the planets of our solar system don't have the obstructions between Earth and them to cause a twinkle effect?
9-14-2024 KP

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Top Document: [sci.astro] Galaxies (Astronomy Frequently Asked Questions) (8/9)
Previous Document: H.02.1 Evidence for dark matter
Next Document: H.02.3 What is the dark matter?

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