by Acad. Anatoly CHEREPASHCHUK, Director of the State Institute of Astronomy named after P. Sternberg, Lomonosov Moscow State University Contemporary cosmology is focused on a mysterious phenomenon called "dark matter". The only thing we know is that it is a matter neither radiating nor absorbing light. Moreover, astronomers and many physicists believe in existence of "wormholes", the discovery of which enable people to travel in time and space. All this is very intriguing and gives rise to numerous questions. The well-known scientist Academician Anatoly Cherepashchuk, Director of the State Institute of Astronomy named after P. Sternberg, MSU, clarified some of these questions to Margarita Timofeyeva, journalist. -- Anatoly Mikhailovich, could you explain, what is "dark matter"? Have scientists managed to find a key to this mystery? -- To start with, I must say that after the Big Bang, all matter in the Universe divided into a number of components. Cosmological data demonstrate that only 4 percent of its mass is made up of ordinary matter, i.e. all of us and everything around us, everything made of visible particles and able to radiate light due to electromagnetic interaction. Thus, we consist of baryon matter that includes atomic nuclei made of widely known protons and neutrons. They were studied long ago and classified in Mendeleev's Table. About 0.5 percent of the mass falls on neutrino. They are particles without charge emitted by the Sun, and their studies make it possible to get information on all processes running in the center of our luminary. The remaining 96 percent of the Universe's mass fall on the so-called "black sec- стр. 4 tor", prevailing in the Universe, with two fractions, where 23 percent is occupied by "dark matter" and 73 percent by "dark energy". Like ordinary matter, "dark matter" exists in all galaxies and clusters of galaxies; it can thicken and twist under gravity. Indeed, it neither radiates nor absorbs ... Читать далее