The search for DARK MATTER on JUPITER

matter 5 to 1, we still don’t know what it’s made of because we haven’t *directly* detected it. BUT what if we could use Jupiter to
detect dark matter? That’s what this paper published by Blanco & Leane this month tried to do by detecting trihydrogen cation, or H3+ and it definitely set some heads turning...

00:00 - Introduction
02:08 - Ground News AD
03:54 - What are trihydrogen cations H3+?
05:54 - What have they’ve got to do with Jupiter and dark matter?
07:45 - How much H3+ Blanco & Leane found on Jupiter
10:13 - What this tells us about the nature of dark matter
12:32 - Bloopers

Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV

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👩🏽‍💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford (Christ Church). I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.

[carlvanderlinden]

This is why publishing negative data is so important!

[michaelwalker]

We should normalize publishing papers that say "Here's the idea we had. We tried it. It didn't work"

[parkere.]

Hey Dr. Becky, I am an incoming Freshman going to major in Astrophysics. You have been my inspiration since I was a sophomore in HS! I want to thank you for your videos, especially on those covering new research papers like this. You make these topics accessible and I also appreciate that you always show the astrophysicists pictures with their papers. It is a nice touch!

[estraume]

Dark Matter Annihilation would be a great metal group name!

[toonmoene]

Thanks for explaining how a non-observation can set limits on theories.

[mackenziemarceau]

Remarkable mission Cassini! According to Julie Webster, chief engineer on that mission, the spacecraft was "down to kilobits", compared to today's megabytes and terrabytes technology. Not to mention that the instrument on board had limitations. It is incredible that a team of Cassini scientists could pull data that would eventually help researchers narrow down their parameters in the search for dark matter. Love your show Dr. Becky!

[happysprollie]

Well done getting the colour of the 'Trihydrogen Cations' text to match your nails. Also: another fascinating video - thanks.

[agentsmidt]

I usually VPN to read Ground News about Better Help. It Keeps my Curiosity satiated.

[lunafoxfire]

4:00 the text color matching your nail polish was a fun touch aha

[donkeyking]

First we keep hearing about the dangers of di-hydrogen monoxide, now we gotta worry about TRI-hydrogen too!

[michaelogden]

Why would one think that dark matter collisions result in annihilation? Or did I miss it in the video?

[thechickenclub]

Fantastic as always. Many thanks. Hope you feel better soon

[StarshipToMars]

Given that Jupiter rotates about every nine hours, if trihydrogen cation is so stable, would it not be possible for it to form from solar radiation hitting the equatorial regions and remain intact as it passes into the night side of the planet? Or is it only stable in interstellar space?

[DrBlanco]

Thanks for that wonderful presentation of our work, Dr. Becky. This is perhaps better than I explain it sometimes!

A quick note and disambiguation about the cross sections in our paper. There are two cross sections in the problem, 1. the annihilation cross section and 2. the scattering cross section. The scattering cross section gives the probability of trapping the dark matter inside the planet, while the annihilation cross section determines how much energy is being pumped into the Jovian atmosphere. Since they are in equilibrium, we were able to constrain the scattering cross section from limits on the amount of ionizing energy in the night side.

[ozzy]

Comments/Questions from a bewildered old fart....
(1a) This idea assumes that dark matter particles are their own antiparticles - for them to annihilate on collision & give off photons.
(1b) There are several possibilities for dark matter particles - are all of them their own antiparticle? Or...
(1c) Is there another reason for thinking that this must be the case for whatever dark matter is?
(2) The original idea of using Jupiter to detect the production of trihydrogen cations away from the poles assumes that there's no other processes for the creation of trihydrogen cations - surely there could be processes that we're not aware of yet.

[cordial]

I love and appreciate the lego models on your shelf :)

[John_Ridley]

Add "annhilation" to the bloopers.

[MrGtime]

Thank you for making my knowledge bigger!

[MeesterG]

Thanks for everything you do Dr. Becky!
How often are Dark Matter particles expected to collide? How do they know that?

[jamesgeary]

Well now we need "Please Please Please", Dr. Becky's Version, on Spotify!