An image of Jupiter’s clouds taken by the Juno probe.
Scientists are getting closer to finding dark matter. Two recent studies published on preprint.com, using Jupiter as a window to detect dark matter, have uncovered a new clue.
Mainstream astronomical theory now considers dark matter to be the matter that holds galaxies together in the universe, but nothing is known about exactly how dark matter works or what particles it is made of. Most scientists speculate that this may be because the particles that make up dark matter are too small and too weak to be detected because current observational methods are not sensitive enough.
On the ground, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is constantly hitting various subatoms for experiments, with the goal of finding unexplained energy loss during the impact, which is thought to be indirect evidence of the discovery of unknown particles. This method of exploration is also currently fruitless.
However, scientists believe that dark matter is naturally occurring matter that should be drawn in by massive objects like the Sun, Earth or Jupiter. After accumulating long enough, the dark matter reaches a certain density within these bodies, which should cause dark matter particles to hit each other and undergo annihilation, and this process will radiate high-energy rays – such as gamma rays.
Using NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Telescope, launched in 2008, researchers Tim Linden and Rebecca Leane looked at gamma rays on Jupiter and published the first-ever such analysis, with the goal of Probe for traces of dark matter particles on Jupiter: If Jupiter has excess, unexplained gamma rays, they should be from annihilations between dark matter particles.
Jupiter’s size and temperature make it an ideal object for exploring dark matter, Lane said. “Because Jupiter has a large surface area compared to other planets in our solar system, it is able to trap more dark matter. You may ask, then why not choose a larger object – the Sun – to observe?”
“The second favorable factor in choosing Jupiter is that its core is cooler than the Sun’s and dark matter particles are less thermally stimulated. This would prevent dark matter from evaporating from Jupiter, whereas on the Sun it would probably evaporate.” Lane explained.
Unfortunately, Linden and Lane’s first study found no traces of dark matter, but they did find an intriguing gamma ray of low energy level that could not be explained as to its origin.
We really struggled with the Fermi telescope to analyze gamma rays of such a low energy level,” Lane said. We look forward to using future developments of MeV gamma-ray telescopes, such as AMEGO and e-ASTROGAM, to look for any traces of gamma rays on Jupiter, especially low energy gamma rays for which the Fermi telescope is largely powerless. It is possible that Jupiter harbors more secrets waiting to be discovered.”
The AMEGO and e-ASTROGAM telescopes are still in the early stages of design. They are the next great tools astronomers are looking forward to for exploring dark matter.
The two studies are two versions of the same title, the first published on September 30 last year on the preprint network arXiv and the second on January 9 this year.
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