dATE
6 August 2025
Credit
Vera Rubin
#
dark matter, women in science, cosmos
Evidence of Dark Matter
https://carnegiescience.edu/news/vera-rubin-opening-doors-dark-matter-and-women-stem
I've been trying to understand this Vera Rubin’s graph evidencing dark matter. And ultimately what it made me understand is that perhaps what scientists see in these telescope images of the sky is actually a three-dimensional model rather than a 2D image. Well actually four-dimensional. Because it also includes speed.
What this graph slash image shows, is that the gravitational speeds of galaxy – M31 (measured optically and through radio waves) doesn't taper off. Where the gravitational speed eventually slows down to 0 we cannot know because there's not enough orbiting matter to track past a certain distance from the centre of the galaxy. But there is still plenty of speed. Caused by something we cannot see…
It makes me think of how I look at digital images as an artist. In others artist’s CG animations I often detect presets or sample models that have been co-opted. Or in AI generated images I try to spot their artificialness.
dATE
6 August 2025
Credit
Vera Rubin
#
dark matter, women in science, cosmos
Evidence of Dark Matter
https://carnegiescience.edu/news/vera-rubin-opening-doors-dark-matter-and-women-stem
I've been trying to understand this Vera Rubin’s graph evidencing dark matter. And ultimately what it made me understand is that perhaps what scientists see in these telescope images of the sky is actually a three-dimensional model rather than a 2D image. Well actually four-dimensional. Because it also includes speed.
What this graph slash image shows, is that the gravitational speeds of galaxy – M31 (measured optically and through radio waves) doesn't taper off. Where the gravitational speed eventually slows down to 0 we cannot know because there's not enough orbiting matter to track past a certain distance from the centre of the galaxy. But there is still plenty of speed. Caused by something we cannot see…
It makes me think of how I look at digital images as an artist. In others artist’s CG animations I often detect presets or sample models that have been co-opted. Or in AI generated images I try to spot their artificialness.
