Mars's strange behaviour could be an indicator of dark matter, scientists claim

Mars could be acting a little strangely in future, and scientists believe its behaviour could help to indicate dark matter.

The new research could have major consequences for the study of the mysterious material in the universe.

The concept of dark matter has fascinated experts for decades, and some astronomers see it as an unquantifiable type of substance that only rarely interacts with light or with normal matter.

However, a new study conducted by physicists at MIT has looked to Mars’s orbit and certain behaviours which could indicate the existence of dark matter.

The research, published in the journal Physical Review D, was put together by study author David Kaiser, who is professor of physics and the Germeshausen Professor of the History of Science at MIT, and his colleagues.

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It proposes that if the theory of dark matter being made up of microscopic primordial black holes, then they would move through our solar system at least once every 10 years.

If that was true, then the movement of these primordial black holes would cause Mars’s orbit to deviate to an extent that could be observed by experts.

If this change were to be recorded, it could prove that the primary source of dark matter in the universe is indeed primordial black holes – which is a theory first put forward in the 1970s.

Study author David Kaiser said in the research: "Given decades of precision telemetry, scientists know the distance between Earth and Mars to an accuracy of about 10 centimeters.”

"We're taking advantage of this highly instrumented region of space to try and look for a small effect. If we see it, that would count as a real reason to keep pursuing this delightful idea that all of dark matter consists of black holes that were spawned in less than a second after the Big Bang and have been streaming around the universe for 14 billion years."

It’s intriguing new research, and another factor in the study of dark matter which continues to fascinate experts around the world.

Not everyone believes in dark matter as a concept, though – in fact, a study published earlier this year challenges our current understanding of the cosmos by suggesting there’s simply no room for dark matter.

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