NASA is excited to learn that they may be able to study the elusive dark matter. Dark matter is a term used for an unidentified type of matter that does not emit or interact with electromagnetic radiation, like light. The term is usually used in cosmic studies and are more commonly found in comic books when it comes to popular culture.
Now, after detecting a signal from a neighboring Andromeda galaxy that indicates the presence of dark matter, NASA is eager to learn more. Dark matter is described to be the elusive substance that is believed to make up most of the universe. This is still a theory for the most part.
NASA finds that the current signal is similar to the one seen by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, as reported by The Tribune. This is the last reported sighting of dark matter found at the center of the Milky Way galaxy back in 2014.
The detected signal by NASA is named as M31. Like the 2014 signal, it is also confined to the galaxy's center instead of being spread out. It could be dark matter, says Pierrick Martin, an astrophysicist working at the National Center for Scientific Research and the Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology in France. Martin is also excited with the discovery.
He notes that M31 is going to be a great study in comparison and understanding for both Andromeda and the Milky Way galaxies. With NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, experts can study how the signal is being produced which could be via a variety of processes but it can be particularly dark matter, as reported by Science Daily.
NASA and other experts are still working on the study of dark matter. In the mean time, comic books and other fictional literature continue to describe dark matter as an entity with extraordinary physical or magical properties.
Watch the official NASA Goddard video below where the Fermi detects Gamma-ray Puzzle from M31:
