A space telescope discovers the first evidence of mysterious dark stars

The existence of “dark stars” has been suspected for many years. The theory can now be confirmed with the help of the James Webb Space Telescope.

AUSTIN – For more than 15 years, scientists have been searching for a type of star previously only suspected but never observed. In astronomy, this hypothesis is called the “dark star”. Now, a research team has uncovered concrete evidence of “potential dark star candidates,” the University of Texas at Austin reports in one. communication to explain.

Researchers have published a study proving the existence of “dark stars” made of dark matter

University of Texas at Austin theoretical astrophysicist Katherine Freese co-authored a study in the journal with researcher Cosmin Ely and researcher Jillian Bolin of Colgate University in New York. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences The publication, which should soon prove the existence of “dark stars” – and thus could provide answers to the dark matter that researchers have been searching for for so long.

According to the university, “dark” stars are not stars like our Sun, which are formed from the fusion of atoms. They’ll clump together from dark matter, which is responsible for black holes, among other things, and make up more than 85 percent of all matter in our universe — even if researchers haven’t discovered anything about it.

The research team discovers three objects that can turn into “dark stars”.

The research team identified three objects that could be “dark stars” using images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It is much larger and brighter than our sun. If confirmed that these stars reveal the nature of dark matter, it would clarify one of the “deepest unsolved problems in all of physics,” according to the university.

With this problem, researchers will criticize known models because there were too many large galaxies too early in the universe to match the predictions of the Standard Model of cosmology.

‘That would be huge’: Researchers want to prove ‘dark stars’ exist.

“If some of these objects that look like ancient galaxies are in fact dark stars, then the simulation of galaxy formation would be more consistent with the observations,” said the study’s lead author, Freese, who went on to explain.

The three objects considered as possible “dark stars” date from the early history of the universe – one from 330 million years after the Big Bang, which is said to have created the universe 13.8 billion years ago, and the other objects from 370 million years and 400 million years after the Big Bang.

The research team named the “Dark Stars” after a popular song from the 1960s

The research team hypothesizes that conditions in the previous universe could have helped form dark stars. Such circumstances are highly unlikely today. The Freese have suspected the existence of black stars since 2008, based on the well-known Grateful Dead song “Dark Star” from the 1960s.

Follow-up observations should confirm the “dark stars” assumption.

Follow-up observations by JWST of the spectroscopy properties of the objects — including dips or excesses in light intensity in specific frequency bands — can help confirm whether these candidate objects are, in fact, dark stars. Freese explains, “Believe it or not, a faint star has enough light to rival an entire galaxy of stars.”