Dark matter stars could solve cosmic mystery

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captdude

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The following link will take you to the full article that has been partially cut and pasted below the link.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39631545/ns/technology_and_science-space

Dark matter stars could solve cosmic mystery. First stars may not have been made from regular matter, but from mysterious cousin
By Clara Moskowitz
In the early universe, the first stars may have been made not of regular matter, but of its mysterious cousin, dark matter. But exactly how it all happened remains a mystery, and figuring it out could help astronomers understand dark matter itself.
Not all kinds of dark matter would be able to form dark stars," said study leader Paolo Gondolo of the University of Utah. "In this sense dark stars are a tool to understand the nature of dark matter." [ Video: Dark Matter in 3-D ]

The term dark star is somewhat misleading, he said, because in fact these stars would emit light and would be visible. But the matter that reacts in the star's core to form that light would be dark matter, not regular matter.

Though dark stars have not yet been observed by telescopes, some experts think future observatories like the James Webb Space Telescope, a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, set to launch in 2014, could be up to the job.

"If we detect evidence of dark stars, or if we can say that there are no dark stars, then they present constraints" on what dark matter is made of
 
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darkmatter4brains

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Seems like Astronomy Magzine had a good article on these guys too.

One thing the msnbc didn't seem to mention is that these Dark Matter star would be impressively large!
 
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Solifugae

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darkmatter4brains":35vrh9rt said:
One thing the msnbc didn't seem to mention is that these Dark Matter star would be impressively large!

How big might we be talking about? 100's of solar masses?
 
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MeteorWayne

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It's pure sepculation, so you can pick any answer you want. Hundreds, thousands, whatever. Since what dark matter consist of is unknown, each candidate would give a different answer.
 
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darkmatter4brains

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Wayne is basically correct, and I don' remember the exact numbers.

But, based on the most likely candidates for dark matter that we know of, they would be bigger than any normal star we now have, IIRC.

They used computer simulaton models based on our best ideas about dark matter. That answer is probably pretty close, if it turns out we are picking the correct source for Dark Matter.

I'll try and find a source that has some more info.
 
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Druss

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Why do scientists believe Dark Matter stars would be bigger than normal matter stars and any idea how wide spread through the universe they think they are?
 
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MeteorWayne

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Because dark matter (whatever it is) does not participate in most of the cooling processes that normal matter does, like EM radiation. So there is no mechanism to shrink the pile, or blow away the cloud as there is in normal matter systems.
 
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Druss

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MeteorWayne":221ld5wx said:
Because dark matter (whatever it is) does not participate in most of the cooling processes that normal matter does, like EM radiation. So there is no mechanism to shrink the pile, or blow away the cloud as there is in normal matter systems.

Thanks Wayne.
 
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dryson

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The following link will take you to the full article that has been partially cut and pasted below the link.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39631545/ns ... ence-space

Dark matter stars could solve cosmic mystery. First stars may not have been made from regular matter, but from mysterious cousin
By Clara Moskowitz
In the early universe, the first stars may have been made not of regular matter, but of its mysterious cousin, dark matter. But exactly how it all happened remains a mystery, and figuring it out could help astronomers understand dark matter itself.
Not all kinds of dark matter would be able to form dark stars," said study leader Paolo Gondolo of the University of Utah. "In this sense dark stars are a tool to understand the nature of dark matter." [ Video: Dark Matter in 3-D ]

The term dark star is somewhat misleading, he said, because in fact these stars would emit light and would be visible. But the matter that reacts in the star's core to form that light would be dark matter, not regular matter.

Though dark stars have not yet been observed by telescopes, some experts think future observatories like the James Webb Space Telescope, a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, set to launch in 2014, could be up to the job.

"If we detect evidence of dark stars, or if we can say that there are no dark stars, then they present constraints" on what dark matter is made of


Could dark matter actually be another form or flavour of the neutrino that astophysic's have not yet discovered or been able to detect?

Neutrinos are created as a result of certain types of radioactive decay or nuclear reactions such as those that take place in the Sun, in nuclear reactors, or when cosmic rays hit atoms. There are three types, or "flavours", of neutrinos: electron neutrinos, muon neutrinos and tau neutrinos. Each type also has a corresponding antiparticle, called an antineutrino. Electron neutrinos (or antineutrinos) are generated whenever protons change into neutrons, or vice versa—the two forms of beta decay. Interactions involving neutrinos are mediated by the weak interaction.

So basically Dark Matter could be the result of cosmic rays striking an atom that causes the atom to become a neutrino.
 
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dryson

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Why do scientists believe Dark Matter stars would be bigger than normal matter stars and any idea how wide spread through the universe they think they are?

Let's look at your question this way Druss, nice suite of armor by the way, where did you get it from? If we look at the basic structure of the atom The neutron (Dark Matter Star) would be bigger than normal matter stars proton (normal matter stars similar to our own Sun) because of the fact that Dark Matter Stars are needed to keep the Universe in balance so that the Universe would not fly apart in a chaotic fury.

So in theory our Unvierse would be the proton where the Dark Matter Stars would be exactly twice the mass of the electron. So beyond the realm of Dark Matter Stars there should be a type of star that functions in the same manner that the electron does in relation to the interactions within an atom.

How I have come to this speculation is that since there are three basic types of particles the electron, neutron and proton that make up all or most type's of element's through energetic interaction's that the Universe would also function in the same Universal model. Einstein said that everything was relative, The small is relative to the large the large is relative to the greater and the greater relative to the Universe as a whole. I guess you could call this speculation Perspective Relativity or Relative Perspectivity.
 
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MeteorWayne

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For those that aren't aware, dryson lives in a world of fantasy physics that he makes up as he goes along, and has NOTHING to do with the real Universe.
 
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darkmatter4brains

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dryson":19nrk2fc said:
I guess you could call this speculation Perspective Relativity or Relative Perspectivity.

I'm not sure why, but this was great ... Relative Perspectivity :lol: :lol:
 
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kk434

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Does even DM exist? after 20 years we dont have a single clue what it is. DM was "invented" to solve the galaxy rotation curve problem. This problenm can possibly be solved by either a version of MOND or that inertial mass isn't equal to gravitional mass. For years tons of work was put to the DM idea, now it's time to look elsewhere to solve the rotational curve problem.
 
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yevaud

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MeteorWayne":24q5qs0s said:
For those that aren't aware, dryson lives in a world of fantasy physics that he makes up as he goes along, and has NOTHING to do with the real Universe.

And how!
 
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