Scientists think the mysterious glow in our galaxy could be from dark matter. What that means

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🗞️ Driving the news: New supercomputer simulations suggest that the mysterious gamma-ray glow at the center of the Milky Way — first detected by NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope in 2008 — could originate from dark matter collisions
• This challenges previous assumptions that the glow was more likely caused by pulsars (rotating remnants of dead stars) and offers renewed support for dark matter as a plausible source

🔭 The context: For years, scientists debated whether the glow matched the spatial distribution of old stars or could stem from annihilating dark matter particles
• Early models assumed dark matter took a spherical form, which didn’t align with the bulge-shaped gamma-ray signal
• However, the new simulations modeled the actual evolution of the Milky Way, revealing that dark matter itself could be squashed into an egg-like shape, resembling the observed bulge

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Understanding dark matter is essential to grasping the universe’s structure and evolution
• Dark matter is thought to make up 85% of the universe’s total matter, yet it remains undetected except through its gravitational effects
• If confirmed, this finding would support the existence of WIMPs — hypothetical particles that could account for dark matter — and provide one of the most significant breakthroughs in astrophysics in nearly a century

⏭️ What's next: The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), under construction in Chile and Spain, is expected to begin operations by 2027
• It will offer unprecedented resolution of gamma rays, potentially verifying whether the Milky Way’s central glow is indeed caused by dark matter collisions
• In parallel, ground-based detectors like the LZ Dark Matter Experiment continue searching for WIMP interactions
• A positive identification could finally confirm the nature of dark matter or force a reevaluation of decades-old theories

💬 One quote: “Fermi gives us a reason to keep believing... this paper reminds us not to cross WIMPs off the list just yet — they might still be lighting up the center of our galaxy.” – Nico Cappelluti, University of Miami

📈 One stat: Dark matter is estimated to be five times more abundant than ordinary matter in the universe

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