Investigating ancient stars, astrophysicists received "amazing" signals that may be the first direct evidence of the existence of dark matter
This mysterious invisible substance is believed to make up about 27% of the universe, but while its existence is only proven theoretically, it manifests itself in gravitational effects in space.
Recently, an international team of scientists announced that while searching for a signal from the earliest stars in the universe with a radio telescope, they may have accidentally made another innovative discovery. A researcher at Tel Aviv University says the team detected signals that could indicate the presence of dark matter. "Dark matter is the key to unlocking the mystery of what the universe is made of," says Professor Rennan Barkana of Tel Aviv University. "We know quite a lot about the chemical elements that make up the Earth, the Sun and other stars, but most of the matter in the Universe is invisible and is known as dark matter."
Scientists have discovered a radio wave signal at 78 MHz. However, the signal had a much larger amplitude than expected. This meant that the ancient gas was colder than it should be under normal conditions. It is possible that he cooled from interaction with cold, dark matter, reports the Daily Mail.
“I realized that this amazing signal indicates the presence of the first stars and dark matter - it collided with ordinary matter and cooled it,” Barkana said.
Ekaterina Shcherbakova