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It's probably worth noting that the strongest proof of dark matter are observations of the bullet galaxy, which Vera Rubin was not involved with as far as I can

by sulam 10y ago

It's probably worth noting that the strongest proof of dark matter are observations of the bullet galaxy, which Vera Rubin was not involved with as far as I can tell. Some kinds of MOND (which tries to avoid the need for dark matter to explain the current state of the universe) purports to be able to explain Rubin's observations, although they cannot yet explain the bullet galaxy. I mention this because "confirmed" is a strong word for something that we still have very little direct evidence for, other than observing the proper motion of galaxies. That's pretty strong evidence, but it'd be really cool to be able to detect the stuff directly.

rubayeet 10y ago
+1 for clarification. The LUX experiment in South Dakota has been unable to find the evidence of Dark Matter. [1] https://www.wired.com/2015/12/dark-matter-still-super-hard-to-find/ https://www.wired.com/2015/12/dark-matter-still-super-hard-t...
- Certhas 10y ago
  Ground based experiments are testing particular models of dark matter. We know it (or some modification of gravity) exists due to its gravitational effects. Direct detection could potentially rule out the modified gravity explanation, and tell us more about what it is, but it appears disfavoured anyway (due to bullet cluster et.al.). The only models of modified gravity I know that are more than ad hoc modifications of individual equations, and are actually complete theories, introduce new fields anyway (e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensor%E2%80%93vector%E2%80%93scalar_gravity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensor%E2%80%93vector%E2%80%93...). Additional matter appears to be an unavoidable consequence of her discovery. What remains open is the type of matter.
gammarator 10y ago
Strong orthogonal evidence for the existence of dark matter is its success in explaining a variety of cosmological effects, notably the properties of the Cosmic Microwave Background: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambda-CDM_model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambda-CDM_model See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter#Observational_evidence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter#Observational_evid... for an overview.
peter303 10y ago
As others have pointed out, there are over a half dozen independent lines of evidence for something like dark matter. Prople hope more evidence such as the direct mechanical detection of WIMPS- not seen so far.

by sulam 10y ago

rubayeet 10y ago

+1 for clarification. The LUX experiment in South Dakota has been unable to find the evidence of Dark Matter. [1] https://www.wired.com/2015/12/dark-matter-still-super-hard-to-find/ https://www.wired.com/2015/12/dark-matter-still-super-hard-t...

Certhas 10y ago
Ground based experiments are testing particular models of dark matter. We know it (or some modification of gravity) exists due to its gravitational effects. Direct detection could potentially rule out the modified gravity explanation, and tell us more about what it is, but it appears disfavoured anyway (due to bullet cluster et.al.). The only models of modified gravity I know that are more than ad hoc modifications of individual equations, and are actually complete theories, introduce new fields anyway (e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensor%E2%80%93vector%E2%80%93scalar_gravity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensor%E2%80%93vector%E2%80%93...). Additional matter appears to be an unavoidable consequence of her discovery. What remains open is the type of matter.

gammarator 10y ago

Strong orthogonal evidence for the existence of dark matter is its success in explaining a variety of cosmological effects, notably the properties of the Cosmic Microwave Background: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambda-CDM_model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambda-CDM_model See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter#Observational_evidence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter#Observational_evid... for an overview.

peter303 10y ago

As others have pointed out, there are over a half dozen independent lines of evidence for something like dark matter. Prople hope more evidence such as the direct mechanical detection of WIMPS- not seen so far.