Dark matter is a difficult subject because, on the one hand, we don’t really know if it even exists at all. On the other hand, many models of the universe rely on it to work.

So, when a theory comes up that says there may be evidence for dark matter, scientists get excited.

Currently, when researchers look toward the center of the Milky Way, they are able to see lots of things, including gamma rays. Gamma rays are the most powerful type of light that exists, and what they are finding is that there is more of it than they expected in this area.

There are two leading explanations that are being considered for this:

1. Dark matter particles are colliding with each other and emitting gamma rays.
2. Gamma-ray emitters (either pulsars or black holes) are responsible for the surplus.

The problem with option number two is that the expected number of pulsars or sufficiently bug black holes is not predicted to be nearly enough to generate the levels of gamma rays that are being observed.

Option number two is often preferred, however, because pulsars and black holes are known for emitting gamma rays for sure, whereas dark matter hasn’t ever been observed.

New research that uses advanced supercomputer simulations, however, lends additional credibility to the dark matter theory. The simulations produced an expected distribution of dark matter in this region of the Milky Way, and it lined up well with the gamma rays that were detected.

A co-author of a study on this, Joseph Silk, who is a Johns Hopkins professor of physics and astronomy, said the following:

“Dark matter dominates the universe and holds galaxies together. It’s extremely consequential and we’re desperately thinking all the time of ideas as to how we could detect it. Gamma rays, and specifically the excess light we’re observing at the center of our galaxy, could be our first clue.”

Of course, this is just a simulation, so it does not prove anything, but it certainly should make many people take the possibility of dark matter more seriously as an explanation in this case.

It is possible that additional data on these gamma rays will be able to be gathered once the Cherenkov Telescope Array comes online. It is currently under construction and is designed with instruments that can provide high-resolution views of gamma rays.

Until it comes online, researchers can only speculate on what is causing the unexpected gamma ray glow at the center of our galaxy.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about a second giant hole has opened up on the sun’s surface. Here’s what it means.