| The Space Reporter | - |
A signal detected in X-ray observations of galaxies by the European Space Agency's (ESA) orbiting XMM-Newton telescope could be the first evidence scientists have for the elusive dark matter.
X-ray signal may offer proof of dark matter
Findings could revolutionize our understanding of the cosmos.
X-rays from the Andromeda galaxy and the Perseus galaxy cluster are being studied by astrophysicists from Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne (EPFL) Laboratory of Physics and Cosmology (LPPC) and of Leiden University
After the researchers identified and removed all signals and particles from known sources, they found one left that defied explanation and therefore could not be attributed to normal matter.
The same signal was subsequently detected in analysis of X-rays in our own Milky Way.
According to EPFL scientist Oleg Ruchayskiy, “The signal’s distribution within the galaxy corresponds exactly to what we were expecting with dark matter, that is, concentrated and intense in the center of objects and weaker and diffuse on the edges.”
The existence of dark matter was first proposed several decades ago when astronomers discovered that normal matter alone could not account for the way stars moved in galaxies. Those stars further from the center of a galaxy should move more slowly than those nearer to that center, but instead, astronomers found them moving just as quickly as their closer-in counterparts.
In an effort to explain this apparent anomaly in the rotation of galaxies, scientists theorized the existence of dark matter, a substance emit light or any type of electromagnetic radiation.
Physicists estimate the universe has four times more dark matter than normal matter. But because the sole effect dark matter has on ordinary matter is through gravitation, scientists have not been able to pinpoint evidence of dark matter’s existence.
The research team, who will publish the results of their study in the journal Physical Review Letters, believe the unexplained X-ray signal is caused by the release of a photon through a process in which a theoretical particle, known as a “sterile neutrino,” is destroyed.
If the signal is confirmed as evidence of dark matter, the discovery may spur a new round of telescope construction, with instruments created specifically for the purpose of further studying such signals.
Uncovering the origin of dark matter could provide significant new insights into formation of the universe, a Leiden University spokesman said.
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