Possible dark matter signal detected Scientists have caught an unusual photon emission in X-rays coming from space, and say it could be evidence of the existence of a dark matter particle. The signal came from a very rare event in the Universe: a photon was emitted as a result of the destruction of a hypothetical particle, possibly a “sterile neutrino.” If confirmed, the discovery will usher in a new era of research in particle physics. “Perhaps it will usher us into a new era of astronomy,” said Oleg Ruchaisky from Leiden University. “Confirmation of this discovery could lead to the construction of new telescopes specifically designed to study signals coming from dark matter particles. We will know where to look for dark structures in space using these traces and will be able to reconstruct the formation of the Universe." Could this discovery be the first physical evidence of the existence of dark matter in the Universe? After sifting through piles of X-ray data, scientists from EPFL's Particle Physics and Cosmology Laboratory and Leiden University believe they have identified just such a signal: dark matter particles. This substance, which still remains purely hypothetical, does not fit into any of the standard models of physics, except for gravitational force. The scientists' research will be published next week in the journal Physical Review Letters, writes Phys.org. When physicists study the dynamics of galaxies and the movement of stars, they are faced with a mystery. If only visible matter is taken into account, the equations simply don't add up: there are simply not enough elements that can be observed to explain the rotation of objects and the gravitational forces that exist. Something is missing. From here, scientists came to the conclusion that there is a certain invisible type of matter that does not interact with light, but only with gravitational force. The substance, which has been called "dark matter" for its mystery, is believed to make up at least 80% of the matter in the universe. Recently, two groups of scientists reported that they had detected a signal that could lead to dark matter. One of them, led by Oleg Ruchaisky and Alexei Boyarsky, also a professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands, discovered the signal by analyzing X-rays emitted by two celestial objects - the Perseus galaxy cluster and the Andromeda galaxy. After collecting thousands of signals from the XMM-Newton telescope and eliminating those that came from known sources, an anomaly was identified that rules out the possibility of measurement or instrument error. The signal appeared in the X-ray spectrum as a weak, atypical photon emission that cannot be attributed to any known form of matter. First of all, “the distribution of the signal in the galaxy matches exactly what we would expect to see in the case of dark matter, that is, concentrated and intense at the center of objects and weak and diffuse at the edges,” explains Ruchaisky. “To test our findings, we looked at data from our own Milky Way galaxy and came up with the same results,” Boyarsky adds. If you've read the article this far please like and subscribe - it really helps the channel. Open the link to find thousands of interesting articles: https://wwww.youtube.com/...ity/yyt3.ggpht.com/...-v1