In the past three decades, a robust standard paradigm of cosmology has emerged which is consistent with existing observations. This paradigm necessarily includes two important components, dark matter and dark energy, which are different from regular matter that we, and the stars are made of. Together, they make up 96% of our cosmos. These components barely interact with regular matter or light - they are invisible. How do we “see”/know about these dark components? I will discuss how we arrived at this "dark" model, what these dark components might be, and how we plan to understand their properties better in the future.
