Dark Matter Halos and the Unseen Support Structures of Your Life

Every galaxy in the universe is embedded in a halo of dark matter - an invisible, massive, gravitationally dominant structure that extends far beyond the galaxy's visible boundaries. The Milky Way's...

Every galaxy in the universe is embedded in a halo of dark matter - an invisible, massive, gravitationally dominant structure that extends far beyond the galaxy's visible boundaries.

The Milky Way's dark matter halo is estimated to be approximately ten times more massive than the visible galaxy and to extend hundreds of thousands of light-years beyond the outermost stars.

The halo is not decoration. It is structure.

Without the dark matter halo, the galaxy's stars would fly apart - the visible matter does not generate sufficient gravitational force to hold the galaxy together at the rotation speeds observed.