SPACE, EXPLAINED SIMPLY
What we observe — and what we still cannot explain.
01
Stars and gas in galaxies move in ways that visible matter alone cannot fully explain. Gravitational lensing and the large-scale structure of the Universe provide further evidence for an additional gravitational component, called dark matter in the standard model.
It is called dark because it does not emit, absorb, or reflect light in the usual way. Its gravitational effects are measured, but the nature of its particles remains unknown.
02
Observations of distant supernovae and other cosmological data indicate that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating. Dark energy is the name for the component used to describe this effect in the standard cosmological model.
One explanation connects it with the cosmological constant, while researchers continue to test alternatives. Dark energy and dark matter are different ideas; “dark” signals incomplete understanding, not that they are the same thing.
03
The event horizon limits the information that can reach an outside observer, so no telescope can simply look inside a black hole. The most extreme conditions raise questions that require gravity and quantum physics to be considered together.
Stories about guaranteed portals to other universes are not supported by observations. It is important to distinguish a mathematical possibility, a physical hypothesis, and an established fact.