Dark matter sounds like something out of a horror or science fiction film. In fact, the first thing I think of whenever I hear it in the news is H.P. Lovecraft, but that’s just how my mind works.

If you were to ask scientists what it is, most of them will tell you they really don’t know. What they do know is that it exists, and approximately 25% of the universe is comprised of this so-called dark matter.

To try and understand what dark matter is, scientists eliminate possibilities by determining what it is not. They know dark matter is not stars or planets, baryon cloud particles or antimatter. Two possible theories that may explain dark matter are WIMPs and MACHOs.

WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) are subatomic particles made from non-ordinary matter and include things like neutrinos, axions, and neutralinos. MACHOs (MAssive Compact Halow Objects) are made from ordinary particles, and could include black holes, neutron and brown dwarfs.

Albert Einstein was the first theorist to discover that just because space is “empty” doesn’t make it nothing. Empty space holds the capacity to expand, meaning empty space contains its own energy. As the universe expands, more empty space, or dark energy, is created.

To date, scientists have been unable to reproduce dark matter in a laboratory, which makes it near impossible for them to gain real understanding about what dark matter is and what role it plays in the universe. A recent discovery, however, suggests that by studying particles trapped in the sun’s center when dark matter collides with the sun and captures them in its gravitational pull.

A team of researchers led by Dr Stephen West from the Department of Physics at Royal Holloway simulated this effect, and believe the effects of dark matter on the sun cool the sun’s core and send heat particles toward the surface. This theoretical discovery could unearth the effects of dark matter on solar physics.

Coming to understand dark matter and its purpose in the universe would provide physicists with answers to a longstanding question, and could reveal some of the darker secrets of the universe. I for one, find it beautifully ironic that the sun has the potential to shed some light on this dark matter. (Pun 100 percent intended!)

I just hope that as we probe into this dark matter, we don’t disturb H.P. Lovecraft’s Ancient Ones, as we all know that never turns out well for humanity.