<p>Dark matter has different properties than ordinary matter. It cannot collide, and thus it alone cannot coalesce to form a star. Furthermore, dark matter and dark energy are unassociated properties. There is not currently any reason to assume dark matter can be converted to dark energy.</p>

<p>That said, there is a <em>strictly hypothetical</em> entity referred to as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_star_(dark_matter)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">dark star</a>, which does involve dark matter. While composed mostly of ordinary matter, this entity is hypothesized to include a high concentration of dark matter, generating heat and preventing fusion of the ordinary matter. If dark stars existed, it is likely they existed in the early universe and did not survive to the present. They are modeled to be large clouds--4 to 2000 astronomical units in diameter--of hydrogen and helium, with a surface temperature low enough to make them invisible to the naked eye. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-05T15:51:52.577Z
As we don't know what dark matter and dark energy are we can't say such a conversion process is not possible.
StephenG - Help Ukraine
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-05T15:56:26.553Z
@StephenG Yes--you will notice I did not say it is not possible. I just said there is no reason to assume it is. They are not known to be related like ordinary mass and ordinary energy.
called2voyage
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-05T16:10:40.987Z
We're not disagreeing here, I'm just trying to add some info re our understanding of dark matter and energy.
StephenG - Help Ukraine
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-05T15:28:01.347Z
2018-12-05T15:28:01.347Z
called2voyage
<p>In the visible universe, we have a lot of matter to energy conversion going on in stars.  Is there an equivalent structure that is converting dark matter to dark energy?</p>

<dark-matter><dark-energy>
Are there Dark Stars
scorpdaddy
# Are there Dark Stars

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-12-05)

In the visible universe, we have a lot of matter to energy conversion going on in stars. Is there an equivalent structure that is converting dark matter to dark energy?

**Tags:** dark-matter, dark-energy

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-12-05. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

Dark matter has different properties than ordinary matter. It cannot collide, and thus it alone cannot coalesce to form a star. Furthermore, dark matter and dark energy are unassociated properties. There is not currently any reason to assume dark matter can be converted to dark energy.

That said, there is a *strictly hypothetical* entity referred to as a [dark star](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_star_(dark_matter)), which does involve dark matter. While composed mostly of ordinary matter, this entity is hypothesized to include a high concentration of dark matter, generating heat and preventing fusion of the ordinary matter. If dark stars existed, it is likely they existed in the early universe and did not survive to the present. They are modeled to be large clouds--4 to 2000 astronomical units in diameter--of hydrogen and helium, with a surface temperature low enough to make them invisible to the naked eye.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: As we don't know what dark matter and dark energy are we can't say such a conversion process is not possible.  
> **username_1**: @StephenG Yes--you will notice I did not say it is not possible. I just said there is no reason to assume it is. They are not known to be related like ordinary mass and ordinary energy.  
> **username_2**: We're not disagreeing here, I'm just trying to add some info re our understanding of dark matter and energy.  

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