The European Space Agency's XMM-Newton spacecraft has spotted strange X-ray emissions that may be particles of dark matter.
Dark matter makes more than 80 percent of the universe but scientists are still to uncover its mystery. Scientists suggest that they have collected thousands of signals with the help of the agency's XMM-Newton telescope.
Dr. Oleg Ruchayskiy and Dr. Alexey Boyarsky from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology suggest that they detected an anomaly after eliminating the signals coming from the known atoms and particles. The scientists suggest that the signals are emitted from the Andromeda galaxy and the Perseus galaxy cluster.
The XMM-Newton telescope detected a line from these galaxy clusters that were previously not known to be existent in these galaxy clusters or galaxies. The line is weak but is stronger towards the centers of the objects. The study also reveals that the line is stronger in the Perseus galaxy cluster when compared to the Andromeda galaxy cluster.
"Although for individual objects it is hard to exclude the possibility that the feature is due to an instrumental effect or an atomic line of anomalous brightness, it is consistent with the behavior of a line originating from the decay of dark matter particles," read the pre-print of the study.
Scientists suggest that they will monitor the signals regularly and future detections will help them understand the nature of the signal better.
Dr. Ruchayskiy explains that the distribution of the mysterious signal in the galaxy matches precisely with what they were estimating with the dark matter, which is intense within the center of the objects and frailer at the ends.
Dr. Boyarsky suggests that to verify the findings they compared the collected data of the signals with the Milky Way, our own galaxy. The findings of the data for the Milky Way were similar to the signals from the Andromeda and Perseus galaxy clusters.
"We will know where to look in order to trace dark structures in space and will be able to reconstruct how the universe has formed," Dr. Boyarsky explained.
The scientists highlight that such signals are extremely rare and are emitted as a result of the destruction of a particle. The authors of the study are optimistic because if the latest discovery is determined then it may open new research in the field of particle physics and will mark a new era in astronomy.
Dr. Boyarsky suggests that once the discovery is confirmed it may lead scientists towards the construction of telescopes that may be used specifically to study the signals emitted from particles of the dark matter.
