A mysterious gamma-ray glow at the heart of the Milky Way is challenging long-standing theories about dark matter and how it behaves at the center of galaxies.
For over a decade, astronomers have been trying to explain the unexpected high-energy radiation, which appears to come from the dense region near the galaxy’s core. Now, new computer simulations suggest the shape of dark matter in that area may be the missing piece of the puzzle.
Researchers using detailed models of Milky Way-like galaxies found that dark matter near the center does not form a perfect sphere, as many theories have long assumed.
Instead, the structure appears flattened—closely matching the unusual glow at the Milky Way’s heart, which has remained unexplained despite years of study.
New simulations challenge old assumptions
The findings, published on October 16 in the Physical Review Letters, come from a team led by Moorits Mihkel Muru of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam in Germany and the University of Tartu in Estonia.
Using high-resolution simulations known as the HESTIA suite, the team recreated how dark matter might behave in realistic galactic environments.
Un nuovo studio, condotto da un team internazionale guidato dal Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), suggerisce che l’eccesso di raggi gamma osservato al centro della Via Lattea con il Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope della NASA potrebbe essere causato dalla… pic.twitter.com/TUKfJSfyaz
— Paolo Luraschi (@PaoloLuraschi) October 20, 2025
Muru explained that one major reason the dark matter explanation was previously dismissed stemmed from the belief that its distribution near the center of the galaxy must be spherical.
The new models show that past mergers and gravitational forces can distort this shape, leaving behind a more oval or box-like formation—similar to the observed structure of stars in the same region.
A closer look at the gamma-ray signal
The glow was first spotted by NASA’s Fermi Space Telescope, which detected an unexpected excess of gamma rays coming from the galaxy’s core.
Gamma rays are the highest-energy form of light and are typically produced in extreme environments, such as exploding stars or matter falling into black holes. Even after accounting for known sources, the signal remained too strong to explain.
Initially, scientists proposed that dark matter particles might be colliding and annihilating each other, releasing bursts of gamma rays. However, when the signal’s shape didn’t match spherical models, attention shifted to millisecond pulsars—old, fast-spinning neutron stars that emit similar radiation.
While the new study revives interest in the dark matter theory, it doesn’t rule out the pulsar explanation. Muru noted that more precise observations are needed. Telescopes such as the Square Kilometre Array and Cherenkov Telescope Array, now under development, may help clarify the source by detecting whether the radiation is made up of many small points or remains smooth and diffuse.
Muru emphasized that, as simulations improve, researchers are also exploring other locations, such as nearby dwarf galaxies, to test their theories and move closer to uncovering what dark matter truly is.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
