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So we know what's the matter with America, but what's the matter with the *Universe*?
Oh, about 31%. https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/whats-the-matter-with-the-universe-about-31
Oh, about 31%. https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/whats-the-matter-with-the-universe-about-31
2/ A new study tried to determine how much of the Universe is made up of matter (as opposed to energy, specifically the dark flavor). They looked to clusters of galaxies, huge collections of hundreds of galaxies each. They way they form is sensitive to the density of matter.
3/ They measured over 700 clusters, then looked to see what density of matter in the Universe best fit what they saw. Their answer? 31.5 ±1.3%
The remaining part of the budget, 68.5% represents the amount of dark energy in the Universe.
The remaining part of the budget, 68.5% represents the amount of dark energy in the Universe.
4/ So less than a third of the Universe is matter. Feel important? It gets worse. Of matter, only about 15-20% is *normal* matter. The rest is dark matter.
5/ So normal matter — electrons, protons, the stuff we're made of — is only about 5% of the *entire Universe*. Kinda makes you wonder just how prejudiced we are that we still call it "normal", eh?
6/ To be fair, astronomers have been measuring the matter in the cosmos for a while, and the numbers all hover around 25-33%. So this is a little higher than average, but only a bit. It's weird to think we can use all these ways to measure what's in the Universe… and they agree.
7/7 Did I say weird? I meant AMAZING. We only just figured out a lot of astronomy a century or two ago, and now we're examining everything in the Universe! Good on us.
In case you needed a reason to feel inspired and maybe even a little hopeful today. https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/whats-the-matter-with-the-universe-about-31
In case you needed a reason to feel inspired and maybe even a little hopeful today. https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/whats-the-matter-with-the-universe-about-31
