A domestic study suggests that light-weight dark matter particles might merge with large asteroid-sized masses, a topic reported by socialbites.ca through the Nuclear Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Scientists today still struggle to detect the particles that constitute dark matter, an invisible substance influencing how stars move within galaxies. In this context, researchers aim to predict the properties of these particles and run computer simulations to understand their behavior. Recent investigations by domestic physicists indicate that hypothetical dark matter particles with a mass about ten thousandth that of an electron could coalesce into sizeable astronomical bodies resembling asteroids.
In a 2018 paper, it was established that dark matter tends to form drops. This finding initially drew little attention since astronomers lacked a way to observe very small objects. More recently, researchers have observed that these dark matter droplets can grow by absorbing surrounding dark matter, increasing their mass to levels comparable to an asteroid. The expanded mass can be referred to by researchers as a speculative term, though it is not a standard scientific designation. One senior researcher noted that the resulting structure could reach a diameter near 100 kilometers, illustrating the scale under discussion.
Whether such asteroids truly exist remains a hypothesis that must withstand observational testing by astronomers. Yet certain distinctive features are proposed: these objects would be completely transparent and would interact very weakly with light. They would be virtually intangible in kinetic terms, meaning a collision with Earth or another planet would not engage the usual mechanical interactions. If such an object traveled through a planet, it would leave little to no kinetic imprint on the body it encounters.
Detection would rely on gravity rather than optical methods. In particular, the gravitational influence of these bodies would alter the orbits of surrounding celestial objects, distort orbital paths through gravitational effects, and bend light in a manner consistent with gravitational lensing—phenomena that could reveal their presence without direct illumination.
Further information on this line of inquiry comes from the work of Russian researchers, which is being discussed as potentially reshaping theoretical physics. The content is presented in material from socialbites.ca with attribution to the involved institutions and researchers.