20% of the mass of the universe are neutrinos

2002/06/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronomia

That's what at least one group of scientists at the University of Cambridge says. They have made three-dimensional maps of 160,000 galaxies to see to what extent the universe is 'soft'. The groups of galaxies would be ‘grains’ that break that ‘softness’. And neutrinos travel in space to equalize the mass imbalance generated by galaxies.

Based on this conviction, scientists affirm that neutrinos weigh one billion of a hydrogen atom, representing 20% of the mass of the universe. Note that the spectacular universe is only 5% of the total universe. The rest is formed by the so-called dark matter. Neutrinos are a component of this dark matter.

Neutrinos are subatomic particles that barely have mass. They have no electric charge and move at the same speed as light. They are able to cross the planets and all the other structures of the universe without causing any damage. On Earth, several observatories have been built to detect these particles.