Stars lie within enormous disk of dark matter
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.022719
ScienceNOW : For decades, most astronomers and astrophysicists have believed that each galaxy lies within a vast cloud of dark matter--mysterious stuff whose gravity holds the galaxy together but has never been detected in any other way. Now, new simulations refine that picture, showing that within the familiar spherical cloud there lurks a superimposed disk of dark matter that itself contains the galaxy’s vast swirl of stars. That disk-within-a-sphere picture suggests that the solar system may be cartwheeling through space with an accompanying fog of the strange substance, which could make it easier for researchers to spot dark-matter particles using supersensitive underground detectors.
