Dark matter is one of the Universe's most mysterious and yet prevalent components. Humans, the Earth, the Sun, and everything that emits or absorbs light in space are all formed of ordinary matter, which includes protons, neutrons, and electrons. However, ordinary matter only accounts for one-sixth of the total mass in the Universe. Dark matter makes up the remaining five-sixths, or the vast majority.

We can tell if dark matter exists and deduce some of its properties by looking at how it interacts with the matter and light we can see, especially in large-scale astrophysical environments.