StarDate

Big Detectors


Listen Later

About 85 percent of all the matter in the universe appears to be dark matter. Yet scientists haven’t been able to find it. But a recent study suggests a new way to look for it: by taking the temperature of many planets in other star systems.

Dark matter almost never interacts with everyday matter — the stuff that makes up stars, planets, and people. But astronomers know it’s there because it exerts a gravitational pull on the stars and galaxies around it.

Dark matter is thought to be made of subatomic particles. But every effort to find them has come up empty. So astronomers recently said that we might see them indirectly in planets near the center of the galaxy.

There should be more dark matter concentrated there than in the galactic suburbs, where we are. Some of the dark matter should interact with matter in the centers of planets. If the planets are comparable to Jupiter, the giant of our own solar system, then there could be enough interactions to make the planets hotter. So taking the temperature of giant planets across the galaxy could tell us whether dark matter really does consist of tiny particles — and what those particles are like.

Such a project would need to study more planets than we know about. But future ground- and space-based telescopes should find many more. They should also be able to measure the temperatures of those planets — perhaps helping to solve the mystery of dark matter.


Script by Damond Benningfield

Support McDonald Observatory

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

StarDateBy Billy Henry

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

251 ratings


More shows like StarDate

View all
Science Friday by Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Science Friday

6,115 Listeners

BirdNote Daily by BirdNote

BirdNote Daily

1,190 Listeners

Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science by The Planetary Society

Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science

1,344 Listeners

Radiolab by WNYC Studios

Radiolab

43,941 Listeners

Astronomy Cast by Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela Gay

Astronomy Cast

2,865 Listeners

The 365 Days of Astronomy by 365DaysOfAstronomy.org

The 365 Days of Astronomy

336 Listeners

Universe Today Podcast by Fraser Cain

Universe Today Podcast

540 Listeners

Ask a Spaceman! by Paul M. Sutter

Ask a Spaceman!

804 Listeners

Space Nuts: Astronomy Insights & Cosmic Discoveries by Professor Fred Watson and Andrew Dunkley

Space Nuts: Astronomy Insights & Cosmic Discoveries

221 Listeners

SpaceTime: Your Guide to Space & Astronomy by Stuart Gary

SpaceTime: Your Guide to Space & Astronomy

319 Listeners

Short Wave by NPR

Short Wave

6,256 Listeners

The Supermassive Podcast by The Royal Astronomical Society

The Supermassive Podcast

287 Listeners

NASA's Curious Universe by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

NASA's Curious Universe

851 Listeners

Why This Universe? by Dan Hooper, Shalma Wegsman

Why This Universe?

363 Listeners

Crash Course Pods: The Universe by Crash Course Pods, Complexly

Crash Course Pods: The Universe

295 Listeners