Until the Dawn, page 28
"Thanks for telling me that," he replied, pausing in the doorway. A look of curiosity flashed across his features and he pointed at the microscope. "Haven't you found a permanent cure for that hallucinatory bacterial thing yet?"
"Nope," said Dr. Simon. "Haven't you found a way to go back and reconquer Earth and get us our home back?"
"Touche," he said, touching his forehead in a quick salute before vanishing out the door.
* * *
From: Trey Rem
To: Captain Norris, Council Members, & Supporting Staff.
Subject: Dark Matter and the problem it poses to the Waywardsman's CAS Drive.
This E-Note memo has been written specifically to provide useful background information to the average crew member who is not familiar with the ins and outs of basic quantum mechanics and astrophysics. During our recent journey through the star-damaged wasteland, the Waywardsman's CAS Drive was temporarily unable to function as it has so well for us the rest of the time during the two months we've been away from our home. This malfunction was due to the unexpected – and thus far unexplained – presence of higher than normal levels of "dark matter" in the vicinity of that particular Galaxy's fourth spiral arm.
Dark matter is, by simplest definition, non-luminous (or invisible) material that is not normally detectable by conventional means such as the measurement of electromagnetic radiation.
Its presence is, however, a reality that we have confirmed by using non-conventional observational methods and through calculation parameters used to keep the artificial singularity powering our CAS Drive working in unison with our PTP transit system. Dark matter is normally completely undetectable to the casual observer – of which I am one. I have spent the past week working with both our Lab and Observatory staff in order to more accurately detect and catalogue this most fascinating material that comprises the largest part of all mass within our universe.
Our home galaxy rotates faster than it normally would based upon measurable gravity generated by stars, gaseous nebulae, and the other visible objects that comprise it. Using that as a basis for exploration our ancestors back on Earth were able to theorize and prove the existence of a super-massive black hole – or gravity whirlpool – at the center of the Milky Way around which the spiral arms rotate. Matter (like our home solar system) spinning fast enough to avoid being pulled in by the gravitational turbulence at its center maintains a stable orbit around the outer event horizon and comprises the stars in the spiral arms just as we have observed them over the past two months. The remaining matter and light energy, the stuff that's not so lucky, is relentlessly pulled in and devoured by the black hole.
In recent years our Observatory specialists have confirmed that virtually every galaxy in the universe has one of these super-massive black holes at its center. The size of each varies in direct proportion to the size and amount of stars contained within its star cluster. It was initially very difficult to confirm the presence of black holes in our universe since everything (including visible and non-visible light energy) is sucked into its correspondingly huge gravity well. Black holes solve one piece of the dark matter puzzle – with their existence verified we have found the source of at least some of the extra gravity causing the galaxy clusters to spin faster than they normally would were they composed of visible, detectable matter alone. Many astronomers now believe that over 90 percent of the matter in a typical galaxy is completely invisible using conventional observatory and detection equipment. Obviously, that which we cannot see using normal methods is one of the primary difficulties we face when trying to correctly calibrate the CAS system and keep its reactions to unpredictable gravity fluctuations under control.
Recently the Waywardsman visited the Centaurus super-cluster. There are many of these "super-clusters" scattered throughout our universe, each of which contains hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of smaller galaxies. This was another key issue that bothered many of our early astronomy ancestors. They were repeatedly forced to address the question of why these gigantic clusters had not broken up into smaller galaxies – like so many others had – during the 14 billion year projected lifespan of our universe after the initial theorized Big-Bang.
The most reasonable conclusion that early scientists reached was that these "super-clusters" were held together by common gravity, just like the rest of our universe. Since they formed billions of years ago then it follows that more than 90 percent of the matter in a given "super-cluster" must be composed of dark matter. Otherwise, the gravity generated by the detectable objects in the clusters would not have been sufficient to hold them together for this length of time and they would surely have separated by now.
The most controversial of theories regarding "dark matter" is based on the inflationary Big-Bang model – the hypothesis that our universe is basically an expanding, spherical explosion that was initiated long ago. It is a commonly accepted explanation as to why galaxies fly apart as the matter contained within them cools unless they are close enough for their gravity to influence each other. This model asserts that the universe went through a period of rapid expansion while it was still very young, bringing the "cosmological constant" for this expansion close to one.
I won't bore you with additional details that make no sense to people who do not study these theories as part of their career. But I will say that in order for the aforementioned constant to be near one, the total mass of the universe would have to be more than 100 times the amount of visible mass that appears to be present when using our telescopes and measuring equipment. All in all, I would go so far as to theorize that as much as 99 percent or more of the mass of our universe could arise from the presence of "dark matter". Keep in mind that this is only one theory out of dozens that we've used to try and more closely identify and measure these invisible galactic objects.
Most people are familiar with the standard objects that we can see: (a) Yellow stars like our own sun, (b) Red giants that are cooler, (c) Blue giants that are in the last stages of their lifespan, (d) Gaseous and radioactive dust clouds (or nebulae) that are lit up by the radiation from dying suns, (e) tiny white dwarfs that are basically burning "coals" left over from the stellar campfire of their earlier life as stars, (f) Planets, moons and asteroids, etc. There are also two general manners in which a star will die when it finds itself at the end of its long lifespan.
The first way a sun dies is for the nuclear furnace at its center to begin breaking down as it runs out of fuel. The star collapses inward and begins to emit huge dust clouds that surround it and move outward. As the dust clouds continue to form, residual radiation from the still-burning sun continues to blaze outward and lights up these dust clouds – usually in a spectacular display of patterns and color. As a nebula forms and the star inside it dies, the building blocks for new stars continue to form. There are lots of larger nebulae scattered throughout the galaxies that have grown so massive that they are actually a galactic "manufacturing facility" with ideal conditions for new stars to form.
The second way a sun dies is to simply collapse and then explode in a huge surge of energy called a supernova. The starburst shockwave is usually visible from thousands of light years away – once the light travels to and finally reaches those faraway places at least. Regardless of which method a star uses to end its life, it usually continues collapsing inward upon itself, becoming smaller and smaller. Eventually many of these dead stars end up as white dwarves… which are essentially very dense and compact tiny versions of the original star. Because so much matter has been compressed into such a small galactic object, the typical white dwarf generally possesses a tremendous amount of gravity, but radiates a much less significant amount of solar radiation than the original star. Some of these are visible, but that depends directly on how far away they are and how small their size ends up after the inward collapse has completed.
Make no mistake – whether it's neutrinos with mass, undetectable brown dwarfs, tiny unseen white dwarf stars, black holes, or some other type of exotic subatomic particles – dark matter does exist. It simply can't be detected by the use of traditional telescopic equipment alone. A good example of this comes from the Pine Ridge Observatory back on Earth, whose study several years ago used light gathered from two galaxy clusters in a single telescope image. This light passed from one star cluster through another in the foreground of the picture. Through use of computer models of the foreground cluster and matching them to the way that it bent the light rays from the background cluster, scientists were able to accurately estimate the mass of the foreground cluster. The model that finally fit everything together showed conclusively that the cluster's mass was about 250 times greater than the mass of its visible matter alone.
Dark matter exists, hence this brief science lesson to help bring everyone up to speed. Please note that the amount of dark matter that is present at any given location we travel to will directly affect the gravitational forces in the area and consequently our ability to keep the ship's CAS Drive functional. I had initially speculated that the extra dark matter present in the vicinity of the wasteland galaxy could be by-products of or a direct result of the inhabitants of that region choosing to destroy entire stars on a massive scale. However, if that were the case then the gravitational waves surrounding our ship should have returned to normal when we transited to our current location BUT THEY DID NOT. This tells me that a very sizeable portion of the area we are currently journeying through contains a larger than normal amount of dark matter. I am extremely curious as to why this is happening and would like to specifically identify the cause.
I will continue working with the Observatory staff to come up with a plausible explanation for this phenomenon, since this unexplained situation could contribute to further difficulties in completing successful CAS transits. I also hope that you have found this memo informative and will use it to ask good questions at our next Council meeting, since I have added the dark matter issue to our agenda as an important subject for discussion. I look forward to seeing you there.
Sincerely,
Trey J. Rem
Waywardsman Software Systems Specialist
Intelligent Debate
UNTIL THE DAWN
Chapter XVI: Intelligent Debate
* * *
Aaron was the last to arrive and quite pleased to discover that Trey had reserved a seat for him. The Captain sat at the head of the main table with Melissa and Greg to his right. Seated next to Greg was Trey – he waved eagerly at his brother and motioned to the empty chair he had saved. Smirking, Aaron walked over to the chair and patted his brother on the back, placed his briefcase on the table, and carefully took a seat.
"Nice memo Trey," he whispered to his brother.
"Thanks," Trey replied.
"Nice and long, anyway," Aaron smirked, ignoring the whack Trey gave him. He continued to survey the room. Cassie Simon and Father Dorgan sat across from them and he also recognized Colonel Emerson, Jeff Marcus, and Nell Hansen. The other three faces were new – he had heard that the remaining three civilian members of the Council had recently been appointed but had missed the most recent orientation meeting which had been held just prior to the wasteland attack on the Waywardsman.
"Who switched the damn meeting to Observation Dome Two?" Aaron quietly asked Colonel Emerson, who was seated to his right.
"We don't know for certain, but it's got something to do with the teachers on board. I think they're meeting with some of the civilian ship authorities in the other Dome to request that more classroom space be made available or something," said the Colonel softly. "That's where the smart money is, anyway."
"I was good friends with a teacher back on Earth," commented Nell. "She was thinking of getting out of teaching but we all knew it was in her blood. Her name was Cassidy… Cassidy Freeling." She frowned and took a sip of coffee. "Although it's doubtful she survived, you can bet that if she did she's surrounded by kids right now. That was her passion in life."
"That's the most difficult part for our people," Father Dorgan said softly. "Not knowing whether loved ones survived is almost as bad – or worse – than hearing for certain that they were casualties. I move that we start with a moment of silence for those lost family members and friends." He nodded his head and everyone surrounding him followed suit. "May God be ever merciful with their souls," he said finally, concluding the short prayer.
"Well…" said Norris, shoving a donut box down the table. "Everyone is here… finally. So I think we can get started." He pointed at Aaron and held up the coffee pot.
Aaron waved him off. "I'll just have ice water this morning – thanks anyway," he decided, gesturing toward a pitcher sitting in front of him.
"According to my notes, Mr. Rem you weren't present at the last meeting. Since Nell is here for the first time from the Observatory to fill in for Dr. Marcus, I think we should start by giving our new members a chance to re-introduce themselves." The three new people seated next to Nell nodded in response.
"My name is Angela Wilcox from passenger deck two," said a young, fresh-faced woman with short blonde hair. She stood up and took a quick bow. "I'm the principal of Education on this ship…" she paused to cast an amused glance at Aaron and Colonel Emerson. "The march toward educating our young people never stops, so the smart people will put their money on us getting our extra space."
"You've already got Observation Dome One," Aaron whispered sarcastically. Next to him the Colonel did his very best to keep an emotionless expression on his face.
"If you want to get out of the classroom setting, bring the kids up to the Garden wing once in a while," suggested Jeff. "We have lots of room in the fruit orchards, and at least once in a while they can go over to the Livestock wing and take a tour of the zoo."
"Thank you, Jeff, I'll mention that to my colleagues," she said, writing the information down on her legal pad. "An 'outdoor' setting… those children could end up spoiled very fast."
A second woman stood up, this one older with white hair. She had some wrinkles, her expression was friendly and she had a very intelligent air about her. "My name is Kayla Daniels," she said. "I live on deck three and am the Administrator in charge of maintaining the public utilities on all four passenger decks." She shook her head confidently. "If you've got a problem with oxygen, electricity, water, or waste disposal then we're the people to see."
"It's nice to meet you again," Norris said, nodding to her as she sat down again. He looked to the third and final addition to the Council, a medium aged man with dark hair.
"My name is David Thushman," the dark-haired newcomer said, his voice deep and gravelly. "I'm from deck four, and my team provides direct technical support for all of the electronic and mechanical equipment used aboard this ship. My staff can fix anything!"
"We know that," Norris grinned, "Or we would certainly have found somebody else to shoulder that burden by now." He nodded graciously. "Welcome again everybody; we've got a lot to discuss this morning."
"Who begins?" Aaron asked curiously as he took a large, chocolate iced donut from the box in front of him. He poured himself a glass of ice water from one of the pitchers on the table and looked expectantly at William.
"You've got the donut box… you start," Norris suggested.
Aaron's expression became slightly irritated. "I think we should give our new members a chance to express their interests and concerns," he decided, shoving the box over to Angela. "How are things going for you? I'm curious to know what it's like teaching children with so many new discoveries made each and every day. It must be pretty overwhelming."
"Yes," she replied. "I've already gotten some complaints from the parents. There's been some concern about all of the constant discussion regarding stars and nebulae and the vastness of the galaxies and our universe. They're worried that our kids may lose their spiritual connection to God."
"How to best teach Intelligent Design in the classrooms," William commented. "Now there's a tough nut to crack. We've been debating that issue back and forth on Earth for decades." He grinned. "Back when James and I were staying with his grandparents, I served for a while on the local P.T.A." He shook his head with wonder. "There are some parents in our society who have some very strong opinions on that subject, and I think I personally met each and every one of them – on both sides of that particular issue!"
"Why so much concern?" Father Dorgan queried. "I never understand that. It's in our nature to be curious and explore and try to figure out things. I don't see what that has to do with maintaining a strong moral character and a devotion to doing good deeds in our world."
"I think some parents are naturally concerned that their children may learn to focus too much on the scientific nature of things and forget to include religion in their lives," suggested Aaron, shrugging. "After all, the things we discover in science are right there in front of us and provable – Intelligent Design, on the other hand, is the complete opposite."
