Whose measurements first showed that dark matter is needed in galaxy clusters?
Quick Answer
Fritz Zwicky argued in the 1930s that the Coma Cluster contains far more mass than visible stars can explain. He called the missing mass “dunkle Materie,” or dark matter.
The Full Story
Fritz Zwicky studied the Coma Cluster in the 1930s and found that the galaxies were moving too fast to be held together by visible matter alone. He concluded that a large amount of unseen mass must be present and used the term dark matter. At the time the idea was not widely accepted, but later observations strongly confirmed that extra mass is needed in galaxies and clusters. Zwicky’s insight became one of the starting points of dark matter research.
Key Facts
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