“All enterprises that are entered into with indiscreet zeal may be pursued with great vigor at first, but are sure to collapse in the end.” –Tacitus
If you want to form a structure like a planet, star or black hole, you need a large amount of mass together in one place. The way to bring that mass together, of course, is through the force of gravity, which attracts everything with mass towards one another in this Universe.
Image credit: ESO/VPHAS+ team, via http://ift.tt/1ex1I2V.
So why, then, would the greatest source of mass in the Universe — dark matter — be entirely unable to form these structures at all? It has mass, it experiences gravity, and yet there’s no such thing as a dark matter planet, star, or black hole.
Image credit: Ralf Kaehler, Oliver Hahn and Tom Abel (KIPAC).
As it turns out, gravity and mass, by themselves, aren’t enough to do the job. Find out why not on this special, 100th edition of Ask Ethan!
from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/1T1Dncy
“All enterprises that are entered into with indiscreet zeal may be pursued with great vigor at first, but are sure to collapse in the end.” –Tacitus
If you want to form a structure like a planet, star or black hole, you need a large amount of mass together in one place. The way to bring that mass together, of course, is through the force of gravity, which attracts everything with mass towards one another in this Universe.
Image credit: ESO/VPHAS+ team, via http://ift.tt/1ex1I2V.
So why, then, would the greatest source of mass in the Universe — dark matter — be entirely unable to form these structures at all? It has mass, it experiences gravity, and yet there’s no such thing as a dark matter planet, star, or black hole.
Image credit: Ralf Kaehler, Oliver Hahn and Tom Abel (KIPAC).
As it turns out, gravity and mass, by themselves, aren’t enough to do the job. Find out why not on this special, 100th edition of Ask Ethan!
from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/1T1Dncy
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