Most of Our Universe is Missing
Dark Matter and Dark Energy
1. What was wrong with the simulated galaxies that Ostriker and Peebles tried to make on a computer? What was their solution?
2. According to Vera Rubin, what would we expect to find if we looked at the orbital speeds of stars near the edge of a galaxy compared to the orbital speeds of the stars near the center?
3. What surprising discovery did Vera Rubin make that made scientists take the idea of dark matter seriously?
4. What did scientists first think dark matter could be?
5. What properties do scientists now think dark matter has?
6. Where are scientists doing experiments to look for dark matter particles?
7. What does Mordehai Milgrom think about dark matter? What is his alternative explanation?
8. What surprising discovery did Saul Perlmutter make about the rate at which the universe is expanding?
9. What do we call the energy needed to cause the accelerated expansion of the Universe?
10. What three things is the universe made of according to the standard model of cosmology? How much of each thing is there thought to be?
Thing #1:______Amount of Thing #1: ______%
Thing #2:______Amount of Thing #2: ______%
Thing #3:______Amount of Thing #3: ______%
11. What did the WMAP satellite measure which gave some experimental support to the standard model of cosmology?