HONG KONG: Scientists have been exploring dark matter for a long time now but while they may have been able to find some at the center of the galaxy as there is still much more to know.
A new study, though, continues to investigate the mysterious stuff and, it turns out, dark matter may not be quite as dark as we might have thought!
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Postdoctoral researchers Jonathan Davis, with the Paris Institute of Astrophysics, explains “The basic idea [of our work] is quite simple: can you say that dark matter is perfectly dark?” He adds, “We want to put a number on how dark it is.”
The lead study author goes on to discuss, “We know dark matter exists around galaxies and we want to ask — if light from the galaxy can scatter off the dark matter, like a dust cloud, can you actually observe this light?”
Davis also discusses how the paper explores the idea that starlight trapped inside a galaxy can occasionally scatter dark matter away. And this creates a bit of a halo of light around the outside of the galaxy.
