Stars near the Milky Way’s center are much younger than expected. New research suggests their youth could be eternal, fueled by dark matter annihilation. – **Dark Matter as a Fuel Source:** A new study proposes that stars in this cluster could become “immortal” by continuously capturing and destroying dark matter particles in their cores. This process releases significant energy, maintaining the stars’ stability even after their nuclear fuel is depleted.
Research Insights – **Simulated Stellar Evolution:** Researchers used computer simulations to demonstrate that dark matter particles, captured by the stars’ gravity, might frequently collide and annihilate each other. This annihilation transforms dark matter into ordinary particles, releasing energy. – **Alternative Energy Source:** This energy from dark matter annihilation could provide a similar stabilizing pressure as hydrogen fusion, potentially making these stars immortal. – **Study Author’s Perspective:** Isabelle John, a doctoral candidate in astroparticle physics at Stockholm University, explained that this mechanism could maintain stars’ stability similarly to hydrogen fusion but without the limitation of exhausting fuel.
Unresolved Mysteries – **Young Stars Near Black Hole:** Many stars near the Milky Way’s central black hole appear younger than current theories predict. Researchers tested whether these stars could be drawing energy from the abundant dark matter at the galactic center. – **Dark Matter Abundance:** The galactic center’s dark matter density is much higher than other regions, potentially billions of times greater than on Earth.
Future Directions – **Testing the Hypothesis:** Researchers conducted simulations assuming dark matter consists of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). The study showed that for certain interaction strengths, dark matter annihilation could explain the properties of these stars. – **Further Observations Needed:** To confirm their hypothesis, more precise measurements of stars near the galactic center are required. Researchers hope to gather this data using telescopes like the Very Large Telescope in Chile or the Keck Observatory in Hawaii.
Conclusion The study, published on the preprint server arXiv, suggests that dark matter annihilation could provide an additional energy source for stars, potentially explaining the youthful appearance of stars near the Milky Way’s center. More observations and precise measurements are needed to validate this theory.
