El Gordo, a giant galaxy cluster, exhibits unusual characteristics that challenge our understanding of dark matter.
Dark matter is invisible material thought to comprise most of the universe's mass.
The prevailing theory, Cold Dark Matter (CDM), suggests dark matter particles are collisionless.
El Gordo's Weirdness
El Gordo is a product of a massive collision between two galaxy sub-clusters.
Its immense size, early formation in cosmic history, and high collision velocity contradict predictions from CDM.
Self-Interacting Dark Matter (SIDM) as an Explanation
Researchers propose SIDM as an alternative theory.
SIDM posits that dark matter particles can interact with each other, potentially explaining El Gordo's properties.
Further Exploration
If you'd like to learn more, you can search for these related terms:
"El Gordo galaxy cluster dark matter"
"Self-Interacting Dark Matter (SIDM)"
"Cold Dark Matter (CDM) model"
These searches should provide you with news articles and potentially research papers on the topic.