Dark Matter Day celebrates the universe’s mystery ingredient

This week, organizations in dozens of countries will celebrate Dark Matter Day. The events focus on the decades-long hunt for this most elusive substance that makes up nearly 85 percent of all the matter in the universe.

“Everything we know about the universe—regular matter and energy—accounts for a fraction of the universe,” said Michael Dowding, a physics lecturer at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (SD Mines). “There’s so much out there we still don’t know.”

Join Sanford Lab on Monday, Oct. 30, for “Shedding Light on Dark Matter and Dark Energy,” a panel discussion with Dowding and SD Mines graduate student James Haiston Jr. The discussion focuses, of course, on dark matter and its role in popular culture. The duo did this same discussion at Comic-Con 2017—in costume.

Dark Matter Day will be held at the Sanford Lab Homstake Visitor Center, 160 W. Main Street, Lead. Guests are encouraged to dress up; a prize will be given for the best costume.

Dark matter has never been detected; however, scientists know it exists because of its effects on galaxies and galaxy clusters. When we observe the speed at which galaxies rotate, there simply isn't enough mass to hold everything together. Dark matter just might be the glue that allows galaxies to generate the extra mass and gravity needed to keep things from flying apart.

Dark Matter Day focuses on learning all we can about dark matter to develop a fuller picture of the unseen universe, which could lead to new ideas and new discoveries.

“Would you be satisfied if you had only 5 percent of a recipe?” Dowding asked. The answer, of course, is no. “We need the ‘mystery’ ingredients to know how this universe we live in was formed.”

Sanford Lab’s Dark Matter Day event, which is sponsored by Matt Klein, Century 21 Associated Realty of Deadwood and Dakota Shivers Brewing in Lead, begins at 5 p.m. with a social hour; the talk begins at 6 p.m.

In conjunction with Dark Matter Day, The Handley Recreation Center and The Black Hills Mining Museum teamed up to revive the most terrifying mining tour in the area: Lead’s Legendary Haunted Tour—Dark Matter Mystery. The tour runs Oct. 27-31 at the Black Hills Mining Museum in Lead, S.D., from 6-9 p.m. Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, and from 4-8 p.m. on Sunday. Costs for the tour are $5 for children under 12 and $7 for all others. For more information on Lead’s Legendary Haunted Tour, contact Cary Thrall at catscratchdesigns@gmail.com or (605)580-5491, or Kayla Klein at kaylaklein.dwd@gmail.com or (605)430-9396.

For more information about Dark Matter Day events around the world, go to www.darkmatterday.com