Researchers believe they have identified a signal, which until this time has been only hypothetical.
Dark matter is believed to be an invisible substance that does not interact with light but is influenced by gravitational forces, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne reported. The mysterious matter is believed to make up about 80 percent of the universe.
To make their findings the researchers analyzed X-rays emitted by two celestial objects, "the Perseus galaxy cluster and the Andromeda galaxy." They collected thousands of signals from the ESA's XMM-Newton telescope and ruled out all particles that were coming from a known source. Through this method the researchers detected an anomaly. The promising signal presented itself as an atypical photon emission that could have come from any type of matter.
"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. With the goal of verifying our findings, we then looked at data from our own galaxy, the Milky Way, and made the same observations," said EPFL scientist Oleg Ruchayskiy.
The signal is believed to be created when a particle, such as a neutral neutrino, is destroyed.
"It could usher in a new era in astronomy. Confirmation of this discovery may lead to construction of new telescopes specially designed for studying the signals from dark matter particles. 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."
The findings could lead to new breakthroughs in the field of particle physics.
The findings were published in a recent edition of the journal Physical Review Letters.
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