Q.  What is Dark Matter, really?

A.  It's all sorts of planets and other smaller bodies lying outside solar systems.

Q.  Why is it called Dark?

A.  Because it's too cold to give out its own light, and too distant from any star to be visible by reflected light.

Q.  Then how do we know about it?

A.  It includes a lot of mass -- perhaps 90% of a galaxy's mass. This affects the rotation of galaxies, which can be detected.

Q.  Can it be detected directly?

A.  Yes, even very cold bodies radiate, but with Dark Matter this radiation is of long wavelength, in the microwave band.

Q.  So why hasn't it been studied?

A.  It has, but this radiation, called CMBR (Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation), has been wrongly assumed to come from the Big Bang. This has greatly limited what could be deduced.

Q.  Where can more be found about all this?

A.  Look at P2: The Oort Soup as the real origin of Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation.