The Department of Physics and Astronomy
at Georgia State University presents


Dark Matter: MACHOs vs. WIMPs
A debate of truly astronomical proportions

Saturday, 5 Sept 2015 at 7:00pm
GSU Student Center
Speaker's Auditorium

Admission is free


Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/M.Markevitch et al. Optical: NASA/STScI; Magellan/U.Arizona/D.Clowe et al.
Lensing Map: NASA/STScI; ESO WFI; Magellan/U.Arizona/D.Clowe et al.

Contact Information:
events (at) phy-astr.gsu.edu
or call 404-413-6033


Dark matter, like the popularity of Justin Bieber, is one of the biggest mysteries of the 21st century. This unseen material makes up 27% of the universe's matter and energy, while normal matter (like protons and electrons) only makes up 5%. Yet despite over 70 years of study by numerous physicists and astronomers, the nature of dark matter is still unknown. Two of the leading scientific theories propose that dark matter is composed of a new type of exotic particle (WIMPs: weakly interacting massive particles) or mundane clumps of normal matter like planets and burned-out stars (MACHOs: massive compact halo objects).

Join us for a public debate where two of our esteemed faculty, Dr. Todd Henry and Dr. Rachel Kuzio de Naray, will face off and attempt to convince you that one of these dark matter theories is more compelling than the other. In the spirit of such classic rivalries as David vs. Goliath, Bilbo vs. Smaug, and Antman vs...well, anybody bigger than an ant, we bring you MACHOs vs. WIMPs! Who will be the victor? You decide.

Dr. Rachel Kuzio de Naray
Ph.D., University of Maryland
Observational astronomy: galaxies

Dr. Todd Henry
Ph.D., University of Arizona
Observational astronomy: nearby stars



Physics & Astronomy | Georgia State University
Last Updated: 4 August 2015