The Possible Parallel Universe of Dark Matter

As researchers learn more about dark matter's complexities, it seems possible that our galaxy lives on top of a shadow galaxy without us even knowing it

By Corey S. Powell
Jul 11, 2013 12:00 AMOct 11, 2019 8:31 PM
cosmos-dark-energy
NASA/ESA/The GMOS Commissioning Team (Gemini Observatory)

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news
 

I am a light-matter chauvinist. Don’t snicker; you’re probably one, too. Almost all of us are.

We think of ourselves, and the world immediately around us, as something special. And by extension we regard our kind of matter — atoms, molecules, rocks, water, air, stars and all of the other things that interact with visible light — as the most important kind of matter in the universe. The only matter that matters, as it were.

Science tells a starkly different story. Last spring, the European Space Agency’s Planck spacecraft completed an ultraprecise 15-month census of the composition of the universe. The kind of matter that we can see makes up 4.9 percent of the total. Another fundamentally invisible type of matter vastly outweighs it, accounting for 26.8 percent. (The remaining 68.3 percent is an even more baffling component that consists of formless energy: That means more than two-thirds of the universe has no substance at all.) 

0 free articles left
Want More? Get unlimited access for as low as $1.99/month

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

0 free articlesSubscribe
Discover Magazine Logo
Want more?

Keep reading for as low as $1.99!

Subscribe

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

Stay Curious

Sign up for our weekly newsletter and unlock one more article for free.

 

View our Privacy Policy


Want more?
Keep reading for as low as $1.99!


Log In or Register

Already a subscriber?
Find my Subscription

More From Discover
Stay Curious
Join
Our List

Sign up for our weekly science updates.

 
Subscribe
To The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Copyright © 2025 LabX Media Group