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Aseyhe t1_ixih6fa wrote

Reply to comment by PlaidBastard in Does dark matter have an influence on the earth orbit ? by CrDe

> to detect it at all ever, it has to be less homogeneous than, say, the cosmic microwave background

That's not accurate: a uniform distribution exerts a nontrivial gravitational effect (and indeed this is something Newton got wrong, although with careful treatment, Newtonian gravity correctly predicts it).

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PlaidBastard t1_iximnuc wrote

Pardon the barely detectable difference in gravitational acceleration out of me. What is your problem?

Are you familiar with the hydraulic analogy in E&M? And how it's not perfect for all behavior in actual electrical circuits?

My analogy isn't perfect for the effect of many randomly dispersed tiny point masses (certainly <kg, we have to agree?) on the orbits of planets (10^20-25 kg?) around stars, but I get the intense impression that you're actively refusing to see how it might be useful in someone trying to understand undergrad-level astrophysics in spite of it not being a perfect analogous model for the nature and distribution of dark matter in and around our galaxy.

Yeesh.

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