詞源

仿譯自德語 ，來自 (“暗”) + (“物質”)。最早於1933年由瑞士天文學家弗里茨·兹威基所造，因1970年代美國天文學家薇拉·鲁宾的一篇關於星系自轉問題的論文而為大眾所知。

名詞

(不可數)

1. (天文學，天體物理學) 暗物質
   • 2001, Susan M. Fitzpatrick, John T. Brue, Carving Our Destiny: Scientific Research Faces a New Millennium,

     The evidence for dark matter in galaxies started to accumulate in the mid-1970s. By the following decade it became clear that essentially all galaxies, including our own Milky Way, are surrounded by extensive halos of dark matter.

   • 2004, L. Bergström, A. Goobar, Particle Astrophysics and the Dark Sector of the Universe, in John W. Mason (editor), Astrophysics Update, pages 124-125,

     On large scales like that of clusters of galaxies, gravitational lensing indicates that the dark matter is smoothly distributed, on the average.