Asteroids Could Be Sent to Earth by Dark Matter Slingshot
- 10 years ago
According to researchers from Harvard University, it is possible that dark matter in space is the force behind asteroids whose impacts could destroy life on Earth.
According to researchers from Harvard University, it is possible that dark matter in space is the force behind asteroids whose impacts could destroy life on Earth.
Experts estimate that dark matter accounts for five sixths of all the matter in the universe.
Now, based on their analysis, researchers suggest that there might be a dense disc of dark matter in the central plane of our Milky Way galaxy, which the sun passes through in a 35-million-year long cycle.
Previous research has suggested that meteor strikes coincide with this cycle but what triggered them was unclear. For this latest study they reviewed craters over 12 miles wide in the past 250 million years and found they matched the dark matter cycle.
The data shows that the dark matter disc might have been responsible for the meteor that caused the mass extinction of dinosaurs.
Lisa Randall, a theoretical physicist from Harvard University who worked on the study, is quoted as saying: “The cycle is slightly off for that mass extinction, but we have an incomplete data set regarding impact craters, so maybe with more information the cycle might fit what we know better.”
The European Space Agency’s Gaia mission may be able to confirm if the dark matter disc really exists or not by creating a 3D map of stars in the Milky Way.
According to researchers from Harvard University, it is possible that dark matter in space is the force behind asteroids whose impacts could destroy life on Earth.
Experts estimate that dark matter accounts for five sixths of all the matter in the universe.
Now, based on their analysis, researchers suggest that there might be a dense disc of dark matter in the central plane of our Milky Way galaxy, which the sun passes through in a 35-million-year long cycle.
Previous research has suggested that meteor strikes coincide with this cycle but what triggered them was unclear. For this latest study they reviewed craters over 12 miles wide in the past 250 million years and found they matched the dark matter cycle.
The data shows that the dark matter disc might have been responsible for the meteor that caused the mass extinction of dinosaurs.
Lisa Randall, a theoretical physicist from Harvard University who worked on the study, is quoted as saying: “The cycle is slightly off for that mass extinction, but we have an incomplete data set regarding impact craters, so maybe with more information the cycle might fit what we know better.”
The European Space Agency’s Gaia mission may be able to confirm if the dark matter disc really exists or not by creating a 3D map of stars in the Milky Way.