Astronomers have found new evidence that mysterious dark matter may be responsible for the unusual glow of high-energy gamma rays coming from the center of our Milky Way galaxy.
The discovery could solve a long-standing cosmic puzzle and change how scientists understand the structure of our galaxy.
For years, telescopes like NASA’s Fermi Space Telescope have detected an unexpected excess of gamma rays—the most energetic type of light—coming from the Milky Way’s heart.
These rays didn’t match any known sources, leading to two main theories.
One suggested that ancient, fast-spinning neutron stars called millisecond pulsars were producing the light.
The other proposed that dark matter particles, which make up most of the universe’s invisible mass, might be colliding and annihilating each other, releasing gamma rays in the process.
Until now, most scientists favored the pulsar explanation because the shape of the gamma ray glow didn’t seem to match earlier models of dark matter’s distribution.
Researchers believed that dark matter surrounded the galaxy in a roughly spherical “halo,” and the observed light pattern didn’t fit that shape.
But new high-resolution computer simulations tell a different story.
A research team led by scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), the Hebrew University in Israel, and Johns Hopkins University in the U.S. found that dark matter in the inner regions of the Milky Way isn’t arranged in a perfect sphere.
Instead, it appears flattened and lopsided—more like the pattern of stars near the galactic center.
This new shape could explain why the gamma rays spread the way they do.
“When the Fermi telescope looked toward the galactic center, the results were startling,” said Dr. Noam Libeskind from AIP. “There were simply too many gamma rays. Astronomers were puzzled, and theories started pouring in.”
The team simulated how Milky Way–like galaxies form in environments similar to our cosmic neighborhood.
These virtual galaxies closely resembled our own, allowing the scientists to compare real and simulated data.
Their analysis showed that the flattened dark matter distribution could naturally produce the same gamma ray excess detected by Fermi, without needing to rely on pulsars.
Lead author Moorits Muru explained, “We found that the dark matter halo is not spherical but slightly flattened. This shape is enough to explain the gamma ray excess as the result of dark matter particles annihilating each other.”
The finding gives fresh support to the dark matter annihilation theory and suggests that the search for these elusive particles should continue with even greater focus. If confirmed, this would mark a huge step toward solving one of the universe’s biggest mysteries—the true nature of dark matter.
Source: KSR.
