What invisible substance forms the necessary gravitational scaffold upon which visible galaxies are arrayed?
Answer
Dark matter
Dark matter is indispensable for explaining how massive galaxy clusters remain coherent structures. While gravity drives the clumping, the visible matter alone does not provide enough gravitational force to maintain these massive collections against cosmic forces. Dark matter possesses mass but does not interact with light, meaning it forms an underlying, invisible framework or 'scaffold.' The distribution and sheer mass of this mysterious substance provide the necessary additional gravitational glue required for galaxy clusters to form and persist cohesively over cosmic timescales.
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What Force Binds A Galaxy Together? - Physics Frontier - YouTube
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