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Is it possible that light itself is dark matter? I am speaking of photons (e.g. visible light, infrared, ultraviolet, etc...). I realize light is understood to be massless, but it is obvious it at least contains energy because we can see with it (e.g. it energizes the cells in our retinas). I wonder if light has a very tiny "net mass" (e.g. 0 mass * relativistically infinite speed). I would think that light at least has a little mass, in proportion to its energy. For example, take E=mc^2, then m = E/c^2 would describe how much mass it has. If this is true, light should have a very little gravity too. Although the effect would seem minimal, light is practically everywhere. Gravity from light would be more concentrated inside galaxies, and even more concentrated in the center of galaxies where there are many stars (like dark matter is). It would be interesting to run the calculations, assuming light does have gravity, and see if this matches the gravitational observations of dark matter in the universe. It would be funny and ironic if dark matter really is light.

Edit: Note that it appears light does have gravity as per the discussions here: How does light affect the universe? If that much is true, I wonder if this is significant enough to account for dark matter?

Is it possible that light itself is dark matter? I am speaking of photons (e.g. visible light, infrared, ultraviolet, etc...). I realize light is understood to be massless, but it is obvious it at least contains energy because we can see with it (e.g. it energizes the cells in our retinas). I wonder if light has a very tiny "net mass" (e.g. 0 mass * relativistically infinite speed). I would think that light at least has a little mass, in proportion to its energy. For example, take E=mc^2, then m = E/c^2 would describe how much mass it has. If this is true, light should have a very little gravity too. Although the effect would seem minimal, light is practically everywhere. Gravity from light would be more concentrated inside galaxies, and even more concentrated in the center of galaxies where there are many stars (like dark matter is). It would be interesting to run the calculations, assuming light does have gravity, and see if this matches the gravitational observations of dark matter in the universe. It would be funny and ironic if dark matter really is light.

Edit: Note that it appears light does have gravity as per the discussions here: How does light affect the universe? If that much is true, I wonder if this is significant enough to account for dark matter?

Is it possible that light itself is dark matter? I am speaking of photons (e.g. visible light, infrared, ultraviolet, etc...). I realize light is understood to be massless, but it is obvious it at least contains energy because we can see with it (e.g. it energizes the cells in our retinas). I wonder if light has a very tiny "net mass" (e.g. 0 mass * relativistically infinite speed). I would think that light at least has a little mass, in proportion to its energy. For example, take E=mc^2, then m = E/c^2 would describe how much mass it has. If this is true, light should have a very little gravity too. Although the effect would seem minimal, light is practically everywhere. Gravity from light would be more concentrated inside galaxies, and even more concentrated in the center of galaxies where there are many stars (like dark matter is). It would be interesting to run the calculations, assuming light does have gravity, and see if this matches the gravitational observations of dark matter in the universe. It would be funny and ironic if dark matter really is light.

Is it possible that light itself is dark matter? I am speaking of photons (e.g. visible light, infrared, ultraviolet, etc...). I realize light is understood to be massless, but it is obvious it at least contains energy because we can see with it (e.g. it energizes the cells in our retinas). I wonder if light has a very tiny "net mass" (e.g. 0 mass * relativistically infinite speed). I would think that light at least has a little mass, in proportion to its energy. For example, take E=mc^2, then m = E/c^2 would describe how much mass it has. If this is true, light should have a very little gravity too. Although the effect would seem minimal, light is practically everywhere. Gravity from light would be more concentrated inside galaxies, and even more concentrated in the center of galaxies where there are many stars (like dark matter is). It would be interesting to run the calculations, assuming light does have gravity, and see if this matches the gravitational observations of dark matter in the universe. It would be funny and ironic if dark matter really is light.

Edit: Note that it appears light does have gravity as per the discussions here: How does light affect the universe? If that much is true, I wonder if this is significant enough to account for dark matter?

Is it possible that light itself is dark matter? I am speaking of photons (e.g. visible light, infrared, ultraviolet, etc...). I realize light is understood to be massless, but it is obvious it at least contains energy because we can see it. I wonder if light has a very tiny "net mass" (e.g. 0 mass * relativistically infinite speed). I would think that light at least has a little mass, in proportion to its energy. For example, take E=mc^2, then m = E/c^2 would describe how much mass it has. If this is true, light should have a very little gravity too. Although the effect would seem minimal, light is practically everywhere. Gravity from light would be more concentrated inside galaxies, and even more concentrated in the center of galaxies where there are many stars (like dark matter is). It would be interesting to run the calculations, assuming light does have gravity, and see if this matches the gravitational observations of dark matter in the universe. It would be funny and ironic if dark matter really is light.

Is it possible that light itself is dark matter? I am speaking of photons (e.g. visible light, infrared, ultraviolet, etc...). I realize light is understood to be massless, but it is obvious it at least contains energy because we can see with it (e.g. it energizes the cells in our retinas). I wonder if light has a very tiny "net mass" (e.g. 0 mass * relativistically infinite speed). I would think that light at least has a little mass, in proportion to its energy. For example, take E=mc^2, then m = E/c^2 would describe how much mass it has. If this is true, light should have a very little gravity too. Although the effect would seem minimal, light is practically everywhere. Gravity from light would be more concentrated inside galaxies, and even more concentrated in the center of galaxies where there are many stars (like dark matter is). It would be interesting to run the calculations, assuming light does have gravity, and see if this matches the gravitational observations of dark matter in the universe. It would be funny and ironic if dark matter really is light.