A new
theory states that dark matter might
prevent stars from aging normally
and preserve them for billions of
years.According to astronomers, the universe is almost 14 billion years old. It
started out with a bang – an explosion occurred and all of existence came into
being. Scientists do not know why or how space, time, energy and matter were
created in the so-called
Big Bang, but they speculate that within the first second protons, neutrons
and electrons condensed from a sea of undifferentiated interactions.
When the universe began, as the theory states, it was approximately 10^32
Kelvin, far too hot for any material substance to be present. Three minutes
later, the temperature had fallen to one billion Kelvin and the proto-atomic
particles formed the first nuclei that would eventually become atoms.
The next major change in the development of the universe came about after
another 300,000 years when it cooled down to 3000 Kelvin, permitting electrons
to orbit those initial nuclei and form atomic hydrogen. As the cooling period
continued the temperature of the universe gradually fell to a point where atomic
hydrogen was able to combine into molecular hydrogen and begin transforming into
the structures and objects that we see today.
Stars born in that early period were so hot and dense that they lived for a mere
100,000 years, consuming their hydrogen and fusing it into helium and other
heavier elements. According to a
recent announcement from the Paris Institute for Astrophysics, however, some
of those early stars might actually still exist within our own Milky Way galaxy.
The preserving factor? Dark matter might have dampened stellar fusion to such
minimal activity that the aging process of those stars was suspended and they
stopped evolving.
The original stars are known as population III stars and, as the press release
states, many of them could have formed within vast clouds of dark matter that
preserved them for a practical eternity. According to Gianfranco Bertone of the
Paris Institute: "These stars can be frozen for timescales longer than the age
of the universe."
If dark matter particles called
Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPS) are made from heavier versions
of normal matter, they might be drawn down to stellar cores through
gravitational attraction. The dark matter could then act like other
thermonuclear phenomena and undergo violent collisions with normal particles,
emitting radiation and elementary fragments that appear to be based on
conventional theories of stellar evolution. Dark matter would put a halt to
nuclear fusion and "freeze" the star in its aging process for hundreds of
thousands of years. Once the dark matter was burned up the star would then go
back to fusing hydrogen into helium as prevailing theories assert.
Bertone's research team speculates that if the first stars ignited near galactic
cores where dark matter is unusually dense they might have been preserved
indefinitely: "There could be conditions in the early universe where stars form
in big enough reservoirs of dark matter to last until the present day."
Indeed, dark matter might have the ability to bring dead stars back to life. If
a white dwarf (the supposed husk of a yellow star like the Sun) entered a dense
dark matter cloud, it might actually begin to burn dark matter and start to
shine as if it were a white star. Some researchers suggest they could become
many times brighter than before.
Building a theory on another theory and relying on the conclusions of one
speculation to prop up the conclusions of another is tantamount to science
fiction. In the case of "dark matter burners" and stars almost as old as the
universe we are dealing with a step-by-step descent into sheer irony.
Since
dark matter is unseen and undetectable and has been inferred from
mathematical manipulations, could it be that something else is taking place?
From the perspective of the Electric Universe theory galaxies and stars are all
driven by electric currents flowing through dusty plasma.
Birkeland currents create Bennett pinches in electrical vortices where
compressed plasma forms glowing spheres – most in arc mode but some perhaps
remaining in a dark mode discharge state. As we have mentioned in
previous Picture of the Day articles, dark matter is an ad hoc addendum that
is designed to protect the Big Bang theory.
Plasma theorists have grown
weary of mathematical legerdemain and are waiting for
cosmologists to start thinking about empirical observations
rather than continuing on this path toward mysticism. Dark
matter (and by extension, dark energy) has been imbued with
powers and abilities far beyond the scope of experimental
research. The case for dark matter can be thrown out if
electricity is considered a formative factor in what has
been observed in space.
By Stephen Smith
