Mysterious phenomenon at the heart of the Milky Way could point to new dark matter suspect. 'We may have been overlooking its subtle chemical effects on the cosmos.'

image via Space.com

March 10, 2025, 5:09 PM

• •Scientists propose a new dark matter candidate that is lighter than a proton and self-annihilates
• •This new dark matter candidate could explain the excess of ionization seen in the center of the Milky Way
• •The new dark matter candidate could also explain a faint gamma-ray glow from the Galactic Center

Scientists have proposed a new dark matter candidate that could explain an unusual effect seen in the center of the Milky Way. This new dark matter candidate would be lighter than existing hypothetical suspects, and it would also be self-annihilating. This means that when two particles of dark matter meet, they destroy each other and create a negatively charged electron and its positively charged equivalent, a positron. This process and the flood of electrons and positrons would provide the energy needed to strip electrons away from neutral atoms, a process called ionization, in dense gas in the center of the Milky Way. That could explain why there is so much ionized gas in the central region called the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ).

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