Title : Chinese satellite closes in on dark matter mystery
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Chinese satellite closes in on dark matter mystery
- Dark matter can only be perceived through its gravitational pull
- This mysterious, invisible substance comprises a quarter of our universe
- The Chinese satellite DAMPE has detected 1.5 million cosmic ray electrons
- It has also detected curiously low-energy ray that may be dark matter
Scientists have detected cosmic ray energy readings that could bring them closer to proving the existence of dark matter.
Dark matter is a mysterious substance believed to comprise a quarter of our universe.
Likely made up of unknown sub-atomic material, dark matter is invisible to telescopes and can be perceived only through its gravitational pull on other objects in the universe.
Beijing's first astronomical satellite that launched two years ago detected 1.5 million cosmic ray electrons and protons, the study said, and unprecedented measurements found curiously low-energy rays.
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Scientists have detected cosmic ray energy readings that could bring them closer to proving the existence of dark matter. As part of the hunt for dark matter, the satellite tracked particles related to cosmic rays produced by supernovae. Pictured is the remains of Kepler's supernova
The team of researchers from China, Switzerland and Italy, who published their first results in the journal Nature, said the data may cast light on 'the annihilation or decay of particle dark matter'.
'This new unseen phenomena can bring breakthroughs,' Bai Chunli, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said at a briefing.
Dark matter is said to makes up roughly 25 per cent of the universe.
But, it does not reflect light, making it invisible.
It cannot be seen directly with telescopes, but astronomers know it to be out there because of its gravitational effects on known matter.
'After collecting more data, if we can identify it is dark matter for sure then that is very significant', said Dr Chunli.
And if not, it is even more significant because they would be fresh new particles that no one had predicted before,' Dr Chunli added, to applause from fellow scientists.
The Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is now collecting more data from space to help researchers figure out what it could be.
Nicknamed the 'Monkey King', DAMPE was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi desert in December 2015, after nearly 20 years in development.
It's primary aim is to look for particles that make up cosmic rays - particularly electrons and positrons.
The Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) (pictured) is now collecting more data from space to help researchers figure out what it could be
Dark matter cannot be seen directly with telescopes, but astronomers know it to be out there because of its gravitational effects on known matter
Cosmic rays often come from exploding supernovae.
However, if dark matter interacts with these rays experts believe they sometimes annihilate each other which produces electron-positron pairs.
Normal atoms are made up of positively-charged nuclei orbited by negatively-charged electrons. However, antimatter is the other way around and has negative nuclei and positively-charged electrons, known as positrons.
In the first 530 days of observations, DAMPE detected 1.5 million cosmic ray electrons and positrons.
When researchers plot the number of particles against their energy, they expected to see a smooth curve, writes Science Mag.
Previous experiments have suggested there is a break in the curve where there are more low-energy rays, which has now been confirmed by DAMPE. This could be evidence of dark matter.
According to the current state of its instruments, DAMPE is expected to record a total of more than 10 billion cosmic ray events over its useful life of around three more years.
Its designers boast that DAMPE is superior to its US counterpart, the AMS-02 (Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer) that Nasa installed on the International Space Station in 2011.
'Our cosmic ray detection range is 10 times that of AMS-02 and three times as accurate,' said DAMPE chief scientist Chang Jin.
'Proving the existence of dark matter takes a lot of time. Now we have worked out the most precise spectrum, but we are not 100 percent sure that this can lead us to the location of dark matter,' he said.
According to the current state of its instruments, DAMPE is expected to record a total of more than 10 billion cosmic ray events over its useful life of around three more years.
The project is a collaboration of more than 100 scientists, students and technicians in China, Switzerland and Italy and funded by the state-backed Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Beijing invests hundreds of billions of dollars in scientific research each year, under a five-year plan for 2016 to 2020 that seeks to lift the country's technological research capabilities into the world's top 15.
Nicknamed the 'Monkey King', DAMPE was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi desert in December 2015, after nearly 20 years in development
WHAT IS DARK ENERGY?
Dark energy is a phrase used by physicists to describe a mysterious 'something' that is causing unusual things to happen in the universe.
'The universe is not only expanding, but it is expanding faster and faster as time goes by,' Dr Kathy Romer, scientist at the Dark Energy Survey told MailOnline.
'What we'd expect is that the expansion would get slower and slower as time goes by, because it has been nearly 14 billion years since the Big Bang.'
Coming up with an equation of state would give the researchers clues about what is making up this mysterious force.
The universe is though to be expanding at an accelerated rate. And, many suspect a mysterious force known as dark energy may play a role
At the moment the favourite candidate is called the 'cosmological constant' – which has a relatively boring equation of state.
'But, despite its simplicity, the cosmological constant is not the 'something' that scientists are hoping for,' Dr Romer said, 'a cosmological constant then messes up other parts of physics.'
'It's like a table plan at a wedding: you think you've got it all sorted out and then you notice that, because the caterers gave you a round table instead of a long one, your Dad is now going to be sitting next to your Mum's new boyfriend.'
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