Dark Matter Exposed? Gamma-Ray Find Excites Scientists Energetic
light seen radiating from the center of the Milky Way may be the
best evidence yet of dark matter, the invisible stuff thought to
be hiding throughout the universe. A new study has found a
strong signal of gamma-rays — light of a very short wavelength —
coming from the middle of our galaxy, which may be the result of
exploding dark matter. Scientists think dark matter, which
seemingly makes up the majority of matter in the universe, is
made of particles called WIMPs ("weakly interacting massive
particles"). And WIMPs, when they get very close to other WIMPs,
should annihilate each other, because these particles are
thought to be their own antiparticles. (When particles of matter
and their antimatter counterparts meet, they destroy each
other.) In the dense center of the Milky Way, enough WIMPs
should exist that many bump into each other, exploding into pure
energy that gives rise to other particles and, eventually,
gamma-rays. An abundance of ga