Chapter 34, Problem 17RQ

Is dark matter found mostly within or just outside a galaxy?

To determine

Whether the dark matter is found within a galaxy or just outside a galaxy

Answer to Problem 17RQ

The dark matter was found outside a galaxy. According to the “cold dark matter” theory, all galaxies are formed and embedded within clouds of dark matter ranging from hundreds to thousands of times the mass of the Milky Way galaxies.

Explanation of Solution

The Hubble space telescope reveals and raised many questions in the scientist's mind about the matter made of invisible and mysterious particles known as dark matter. The theory is known as "Cold matter theory" provided some results about the location of galaxies and clusters of galaxies in the universe.

This theory reveals that the dark matter is the structure that is approx thousands of time greater in mass than the Milky Way galaxies and the galaxies reside inside clouds of these dark matters.

However, the type of particle that makes up dark matter is still a mystery and the number of small structures detected in the study offers more clues about matter's nature.

Conclusion:

Therefore, the dark matter was found outside a galaxy. According to the “cold dark matter” theory, all galaxies are formed and embedded within clouds of dark matter ranging from hundreds to thousands of times the mass of the Milky Way galaxies.