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  • Have you ever had the feeling that there's something bigger out there, something you can't see?

  • Well, there is. It's called Dark Matter.

  • Dark matter is spread throughout space, engulfing the Milky Way and all other galaxies.

  • It's four times more common in the universe than visible matter, yet we've never seen or directly observed it!

  • So how do we know it's there? Because of gravity.

  • A galaxy is like a giant merry-go-round that all the stars are riding.

  • In order to stay on, each star has to hold on tightthat's where gravity comes inotherwise it'll fly off into space.

  • The problem is, the force of gravity from all the stars we can see isn't strong enough to hold galaxies together.

  • All the stars should be flying off the edge of the merry-go-round. But they're not.

  • It's as if some invisible rope is helping them hold on.

  • Physicists believe that rope is the gravitational force from stuff we can't see, hence, Dark Matter.

  • And how do we know the speeds of stars in distant galaxies?

  • The doppler effect, which is why a police siren shifts to a lower pitch as the car passes, also works for light.

  • That's how radar catches you speeding, and how astronomers measure the rotation of galaxies.

  • So, we use what we can see to tell us about what we can't.

Have you ever had the feeling that there's something bigger out there, something you can't see?

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