A star close to the Sun could be a dark matter “factory”
Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology discovered new properties of the star Betelgeuse during their research. It is one of the closest to the Sun, according to Live Science.
Betelgeuse is visible from Earth as a bright red dot in the constellation Orion. The distance between it and the Earth is 520 light years. Last year, the star began to fade for an unexplained reason – some scientists have suggested that it could degenerate into a supernova.
The authors of the new study have suggested that Betelgeuse may be a “factory” of dark matter. According to their theory, many hypothetical dark matter particles called axions are formed in the interior of a star.
The mass of these hypothetical particles is supposedly a millionth or even a billionth of an electron. Axions should not actively interact with visible particles. But there is a small possibility that photons or light particles can turn into axions in the presence of a strong magnetic field.
In the thermonuclear core of Betelgeuse, which is 20 times more massive than the Sun, there should be an abundant amount of both photons and magnetism – these are suitable conditions for the “birth” of axions. If they really form there, then, probably, then they break out and rush to the Earth in a dense stream.
“By interacting with the natural magnetic field of the Milky Way galaxy, these axions can be converted back to photons in the X-ray part of the electromagnetic spectrum,” the authors of the scientific work explained.
Betelgeuse is an old star and shouldn't emit much X-ray light. Scientists have suggested that any radiation of this kind emanating from a star could indicate the presence of axions.
The study authors used NASA's Space Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope (NuSTAR) to search for an X-ray signature. The signals they recorded did not go beyond the usual astrophysical processes. But, nevertheless, the results were useful for further research. Scientists have concluded that photons and axions interact three times less often than previously thought.
The search for dark matter is one of the main tasks of modern science. Earlier, Danish scientists presented their model of the structure of the universe. In their opinion, it consists of 5% of visible matter, 25% of dark and 70% of dark energy.
