The Rotation of Spiral Galaxies

There is accumulating evidence that as much as 90 percent of the mass of the universe is nonluminous and is clumped, halo-like, around individual galaxies. The gravitational force of this dark matter is presumed to be responsible for the high rotational velocities of stars and gas in the disks of spiral galaxies. At present, the form of the dark matter is unknown. Possible candidates span a range in mass of 10⁷⁰, from non-zero-mass neutrinos to massive black holes.