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Neutron Stars Could be Heating Up From Dark Matter Annihilation

Astronomers have an intriguing idea for searching for dark matter, measuring the effect of particle self-annihilation inside various astronomical objects, from planets to stars and even white dwarfs. Now, astronomers are suggesting that dark matter annihilation should have a noticeable effect on the temperature of neutron stars. Dark matter could be collecting inside the intense gravity wells of neutron stars, annihilating and making them hotter than they should be.

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A New Tabletop Experiment to Search for Dark Matter

What is Dark Matter? We don’t know. At this stage of the game, scientists are busy trying to detect it and map out its presence and distribution throughout the Universe. Usually, that involves highly-engineered, sophisticated telescopes. But a new approach involves a device so small it can sit on a kitchen table.

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Dwarf Galaxies Could be the Key to Explaining Dark Matter

If dark matter is a particle, it’s possible that it could self-annihilate, becoming normal matter and releasing gamma radiation. Dwarf galaxies are the best objects to search for this radiation because they’re small, rich in dark matter, and don’t have other phenomena that could contaminate the view. A new survey examined 50 dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way and saw a faint hint of gamma radiation that could be coming from dark matter annihilation.

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Webb Can Directly Test One Theory for Dark Matter

What is it about galaxies and dark matter? Most, if not all galaxies are surrounded by halos of this mysterious, unknown, but ubiquitous material. And, it also played a role in galaxy formation. The nature of that role is something astronomers are still figuring out. Today, they’re searching the infant Universe, looking for the tiniest, …

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“Seeing” the Dark Matter Web That Surrounds the Coma Cluster

According to our predominant cosmological models, Dark Matter makes up the majority of mass in the Universe (roughly 85%). While it is not detectable in visible light, its influence can be seen based on how it causes matter to form large-scale structures in our Universe. Based on ongoing observations, astronomers have determined that Dark Matter …

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Dark Matter Might Help Explain How Supermassive Black Holes Can Merge

Astronomers aren’t sure what dark matter is, but they carefully observe to determine which models best match the data. Astronomers have recently developed a method to measure the speed of dark matter compared to other objects in the Universe. As a cloud of dark matter moves past a galaxy, gravity pulls particles towards it in a curving trajectory. The speed of the dark matter can be measured through its effects on the galaxy and vice versa.

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A Primordial Dark Matter Galaxy Found Without Stars

There’s a galaxy out there without apparent stars but largely chock full of dark matter. What’s that you say? A galaxy without stars? Isn’t that an impossibility? Not necessarily, according to the astronomers who found it and are trying to explain why it appears starless. “What we do know is that it’s an incredibly gas-rich …

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Dark Matter Could Map the Universe's Early Magnetic Fields

Even though we still don’t know what dark matter is, astronomers can use it as a natural telescope lens with gravitational lensing. A new theoretical paper suggests that mini-halos of dark matter in the early Universe could be used as a probe to map out primordial magnetic fields. These magnetic fields are everywhere in the cosmos today, but were they produced in the early stages of the Universe? It depends on the influence of magnetic fields on dark matter.

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Dark Matter Could Cause Jupiter’s Night Side to Glow

One of the aspects of our study of the universe that fascinates me is the hunt for dark matter. That elusive material that doesn’t interact with much makes it difficult but not impossible to detect.  Gravitational lenses are one such phenomena that point to its existence indeed it allows us to estimate how much there …

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