A study published last week suggests that dark matter could be responsible for the observable wobble in Mars' orbit.
Research published in peer-reviewed scientific journals Physical review, He theorizes that dark matter threatens tiny, or primordial, black holes.
Unlike astrophysical black holes, these primordial black holes formed when dense pockets of gas collapsed seconds after the Big Bang and were scattered throughout the universe due to the expansion.
These primordial black holes are as small as atoms, yet thousands of times more massive than the Sun, and they make up dark matter.
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Panoramic view of Mars (NASA)
First theorized by Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky in the 1930s, dark matter is a type of matter invisible to the human eye. It doesn't emit light or energy, but it makes up roughly a quarter of the mass of the universe. Researchers have proposed the existence of dark matter based on its gravitational effect on other visible matter.
Although it cannot be detected by the naked eye, dark matter is thought to make up about a quarter of the universe. (NASA)
The new study, titled “Primitive Close Encounter,” theorizes that dark matter made up of primordial black holes is slightly shifting the orbit of Mars due to its extreme mass.
The researchers: MIT physicists They backed up their theory with simulations of the Martian orbit that matched their proposal.
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The researchers theorize that these primordial black holes could wobble the orbit of Mars at least once every decade as they pass through the solar system.
This image released by NASA shows an illustration of the space agency's Perseverance rover safely landing on Mars. (Xinhua/NASA/JPL-Caltech via Getty Images)
Astronomers are able to detect such wobbles thanks to advances in telemetry, or technology that measures the distances between planets.
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“We're trying to use this highly instrumented space to look for tiny effects,” said co-author David Kaiser, professor of physics, “and if we see them, that would give us a real reason to keep pursuing this fantastic idea that all dark matter is made up of black holes that were born within a second of the Big Bang and have been circling the universe for 14 billion years.”
