The MACHO Project: Microlensing Results from 5.7 Years of LMC Observations · HackerPapers discussions

The MACHO Project: Microlensing Results from 5.7 Years of LMC Observations — mentioned by astrosi

Sun, 02 Oct 2022 07:48:29 GMT

Unlikely, dead dark stars being dark matter candidates is a theory known as MACHOs (massive compact halo objects) If they exist we would expect to detect them as they pass between another star and earth creating a gravitational lens. You can estimate the number of these MACHOs by looking at a bunch of stars for a long period of time and counting the number of microlensing events you see. A team did this in 2000 and found that while there were some events, there weren't enough to explain all of the dark matter around the Milky Way. https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0001272

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The MACHO Project: Microlensing Results from 5.7 Years of LMC Observations — mentioned by xenophonf

Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:07:03 GMT

Are you indirectly asking whether planets can be dark matter candidates? If so, those are called MACHOs (massive compact halo objects). They have been studied via the gravitational microlensing effect. The presence of MACHOs can't account for most dark matter. https://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0001272.pdf https://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/9904401.pdf When you see figures like "1E-7 to 1E-2 M⊙ mass range" (from the above paper's introduction), note that a Jupiter mass is about 1E-3 M⊙---one thousandth or 0.1% the mass of the Sun. Earth is 3E-6 M⊙, the Moon is 3.7E-8 M⊙, and Pluto is 6.6E-9 M⊙; or…

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.