<p>The dark matter model that is used to explain the "missing mass" problem relating to our Galactic rotation curve, consists of a pseudo-spherical distribution that is much more extended than the visible stars and gas. Even though this "halo" contains more than ten times the mass of the visible matter, when you work out what it's density should be in the solar neighbourhood, it turns out to be around 100 times <em>less</em> than the "normal" interplanetary medium.</p>

<p>This means, that inside the Earth's orbit, there could be as much as $10^{10}$ kg of dark matter. This sounds a lot and in principle, yes, this would speed up the orbits of planets in a way that depended on their distance from the Sun. However, the predicted effects of this are still about 6 orders of magnitude below the current precision of measurement.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-06T04:17:12.257Z
if there is dark matter is so close to us then wouldn't it have been observed by now? A piece of debris, or an asteroid flying into the earth's orbit and crashing against some invisible thing called dark matter.
Hisham
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-06T04:55:48.103Z
@Maalik have you worked out the density of dark matter in the Solar System?
ProfRob
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-11-25T07:47:23.267Z
2015-11-25T07:47:23.267Z
ProfRob
<p>Would dark matter have a similar effect on the Solar System as it does on the Milky Way? I'd imagine it could help hold together some of the Solar System bodies or at least affect their motion, right? Maybe to a lesser extent, but would it be significant?</p>

<solar-system><the-sun><gravity><galaxy><dark-matter>
Does Dark Matter affect the motion of the Solar System?
Sir Cumference
# Does Dark Matter affect the motion of the Solar System?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-11-25)

Would dark matter have a similar effect on the Solar System as it does on the Milky Way? I'd imagine it could help hold together some of the Solar System bodies or at least affect their motion, right? Maybe to a lesser extent, but would it be significant?

**Tags:** solar-system, the-sun, gravity, galaxy, dark-matter

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-11-25. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

The dark matter model that is used to explain the "missing mass" problem relating to our Galactic rotation curve, consists of a pseudo-spherical distribution that is much more extended than the visible stars and gas. Even though this "halo" contains more than ten times the mass of the visible matter, when you work out what it's density should be in the solar neighbourhood, it turns out to be around 100 times *less* than the "normal" interplanetary medium.

This means, that inside the Earth's orbit, there could be as much as $10^{10}$ kg of dark matter. This sounds a lot and in principle, yes, this would speed up the orbits of planets in a way that depended on their distance from the Sun. However, the predicted effects of this are still about 6 orders of magnitude below the current precision of measurement.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: if there is dark matter is so close to us then wouldn't it have been observed by now? A piece of debris, or an asteroid flying into the earth's orbit and crashing against some invisible thing called dark matter.  
> **username_1**: @Maalik have you worked out the density of dark matter in the Solar System?  

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