Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-21T12:28:09.445Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Dark Galaxy Hypothesis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Michael Weisberg ,
Melissa Jacquart ,
Barry Madore  and
Marja Seidel
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Gravitational interactions allowed astronomers to conclude that dark matter rings all luminous galaxies in gigantic halos, but this only accounts for a fraction of the total mass of dark matter believed to exist. Where is the rest? We hypothesize that some of it resides in dark galaxies, pure dark matter halos that either never possessed or have totally lost their baryonic matter. This article explores methodological challenges that arise because of the nature of observation in astrophysics and examines how the blend of observation, simulation, and theory we call the Observing the Invisible approach might make detecting such dark objects possible.

Type
Explanation
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 85 , Issue 5 , December 2018 , pp. 1204 - 1215
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

†

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation (STS-1557138) and the Carnegie Institution for Science.

References

Arp, H., and Madore, B. F.. 1987. A Catalogue of Southern Peculiar Galaxies and Associations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Babul, Arif, and Rees, Martin J.. 1992. “On Dwarf Elliptical Galaxies and the Faint Blue Counts.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 255:346–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benson, A. J., Lacey, C. G., Baugh, C. M., Cole, S., and Frenk, C. S.. 2002. “The Effects of Photoionization on Galaxy Formation.” Pt. 1, “Model and Results at Z = 0.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 333 (1): 156–76..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bullock, J. S. 2010. “Notes on the Missing Satellites Problem.” arXiv.org, Cornell University Library. http://arxiv.org/abs/1009.4505.Google Scholar
Carlberg, R. G., and Grillmair, C. J.. 2013. “Gaps in the GD-1 Star Stream.” Astrophysical Journal 768 (2): 171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Côté, B., Martel, H., and Drissen, L.. 2015. “Cosmological Simulations of the Intergalactic Medium.” Pt. 2, “Galaxy Model and Feedback.” Astrophysical Journal 802 (2): 123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dalal, N., and Kochanek, C. S.. 2002. “Direct Detection of Cold Dark Matter Substructure.” Astrophysical Journal 572 (1): 25–33..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dekel, A., and Silk, J.. 1986. “The Origin of Dwarf Galaxies, Cold Dark Matter, and Biased Galaxy Formation.” Astrophysical Journal 303:39–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Efstathiou, G. 1992. “Suppressing the Formation of Dwarf Galaxies via Photoionization.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 256 (1): 43P–47P..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hacking, I. 1983. Representing and Intervening: Introductory Topics in the Philosophy of Natural Science. Vol. 5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Humphreys, P. 2004. Extending Ourselves: Computational Science, Empiricism, and Scientific Method. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacquart, M. Forthcoming. “Dark Matter and Dark Energy.” In Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Physics, ed. Eleanor Knox and Alastair Wilson. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Janowiecki, S., Leisman, L., Józsa, G., Salzer, J. J., Haynes, M. P., Giovanelli, R., Rhode, K. L., Cannon, J. M., Adams, E. A. K., and Janesh, W. F.. 2015. “(Almost) Dark HI Sources in the ALFALFA Survey: The Intriguing Case of HI1232+20.” Astrophysical Journal 801 (2): 96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kamionkowski, M., and Liddle, A. R.. 2000. “The Dearth of Halo Dwarf Galaxies: Is There Power on Short Scales?” Physical Review Letters 84 (20): 4525–28..CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kitcher, P. 2001. “Real Realism: The Galilean Strategy.” Philosophical Review 110 (2): 151–97..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klypin, A., Kravtsov, A. V., Valenzuela, O., and Prada, F.. 1999. “Where Are the Missing Galactic Satellites?” Astrophysical Journal 522 (1): 82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mo, H., van den Bosch, F., and White, S.. 2010. Galaxy Formation and Evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nye, M. J. 1972. Molecular Reality: A Perspective on the Scientific Work of Jean Perrin. London: Macdonald.Google Scholar
Panek, R. 2012. The 4% Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality. Oxford: Oneworld.Google Scholar
Papastergis, E., Martin, A. M., Giovanelli, R., and Haynes, M. P.. 2011. “The Velocity and Width Function of Galaxies from the 40% ALFALFA Survey: Shedding Light on the Cold Dark Matter Overabundance Problem.” Astrophysical Journal 739 (1): 38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parke, E. C. 2014. “Experiments, Simulations, and Epistemic Privilege.” Philosophy of Science 81 (4): 526–36..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perrin, J. 1870/1870. Les atomes. Paris: Alcan.Google Scholar
Ratti, E. 2015. “Big Data Biology: Between Eliminative Inferences and Exploratory Experiments.” Philosophy of Science 82 (2): 198–218..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rubin, Vera C., Ford, W. Kent Jr., and Thonnard, Norbert. 1980. “Rotational Properties of 21 SC Galaxies with a Large Range of Luminosities and Radii, from NGC 4605/R= 4kpc/to UGC 2885/R= 122 kpc.” Astrophysical Journal 238:471–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Somerville, R. S. 2002. “Can Photoionization Squelching Resolve the Substructure Crisis?” Astrophysical Journal Letters 572 (1): L23–L26..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tegmark, M., Silk, J., and Evrard, A.. 1993. “Late Reionization by Supernova-Driven Winds.” Astrophysical Journal 417:54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vegetti, S., Lagattuta, D. J., McKean, J. P., Auger, M. W., Fassnacht, C. D., and Koopmans, L. V. E.. 2012. “Gravitational Detection of a Low-Mass Dark Satellite Galaxy at Cosmological Distance.” Nature 481 (7381): 341–43..CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weinberg, D. H., Bullock, J. S., Governato, F., de Naray, R., and Peter, A. H. G.. 2015. “Cold Dark Matter: Controversies on Small Scales.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 1124 (40): 12249–55..Google Scholar
Willett, K. W., et al. 2013. “Galaxy Zoo 2: Detailed Morphological Classifications for 304,122 Galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 435 (4): 2835–60..CrossRefGoogle Scholar