Milky Way Dark Matter Halo
The visible disk of the Milky Way Galaxy is embedded in a much larger, roughly spherical halo of dark matter. The dark matter density drops off with distance from the galactic center. It is now believed that about 95% of the Galaxy is composed of dark matter, a type of matter that does not seem to interact with the rest of the Galaxy's matter and energy in any way except through gravity. The luminous matter makes up approximately 9 x 1010 solar masses. The dark matter halo is likely to include around 6 x 1011 to 3 x 1012 solar masses of dark matter.
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Famous quotes containing the words milky way, milky, dark, matter and/or halo:
“The Milky Way perhaps
Was woman’s way of life.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Full of her long white arms and milky skin
He had a thousand times remembered sin.”
—John Crowe Ransom (1888–1974)
“A Scholar is a candle which the love & desire of men will light. Let it not lie in a dark box.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“No matter what time it is, wake me, even if it’s in the middle of a Cabinet meeting.”
—Ronald Reagan (b. 1911)
“Fame now wears the halo that once crowned holiness.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)