NASA : Mysterious signal could be dark matter

NASA mysterious signal from space which is a reported 240 million light years from Earth is making some astronomers at the center very excited. The NASA mysterious signal was reportedly caught by the European Space Agency as well. According to website SPLOID, astronomers from both authorities noticed the stange yet unidentified signal coming from about 240 million light years from our planet.

Mysterious X-ray signal intrigues astronomers. Could it be dark matter? http://t.co/l3cDZI1XBi @chandraxray  pic.twitter.com/7tNrKkoI0l

— NASA (@NASA) June 24, 2014

A leading theory, NASA reports, is that the X-rays are a result of decaying “sterile neutrinos,” which are particles that could potentially produce dark matter. Astronomers believe dark matter accounts for 85 percent of all matter in the universe, but dark matter does not emit or absorb light as does the “normal” matter in planets, stars, and galaxies, so its detection is much more difficult.

NASA notes that normal matter may also have created the emission line, which appeared in the Perseus galaxy cluster, but astronomers are excited at the prospect that the sterile neutrinos may be at play. The scientists’ next step will be combining the data with results from other missions to see if the same X-ray signal appears in other galaxy clusters. Thus far, the line has also been found in 73 other galaxy clusters using NASA’s XMM-Newton.

“We know that the dark matter explanation is a long shot, but the pay-off would be huge if we’re right,” Esra Bulbul, leader of the study and a fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told NASA. “We’re going to keep testing this interpretation and see where it takes us.”

Agencies/Canadajournal