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A peculiar cluster of stars swirling around the violent shopping centre of theMilky Waycould become " immortal " by continuously bewitch and destroying dark affair atom in their core , a unexampled study suggest .
Using computing gadget pretence of star evolution , researchers found thatdark matterparticles captured by these wiz ' gravity may frequently clash with and " annihilate " each other inside the virtuoso , transforming into average particle while liberate a significant amount of energy .
An illustration of the Milky Way’s galactic center, showing our supermassive black hole wreathed in a disk of gas and clusters of stars.
This additional energy origin could keep the star ’s stability and potentially make it immortal , even after its regular supply of atomic fuel has run ironical , the researchers propose .
" sensation fire hydrogen innuclear fusion , " lead study authorIsabelle John , a doctoral candidate in astroparticle purgative at Stockholm University , evidence Live Science via email . " The outward pressure from this balances out the inward insistence from the gravitative forces , and hold the whizz in a stable equilibrium . "
However , many stars spotted near the Milky Way ’s central pitch-black hole seem to befar untried than theories of astral development presage . To enquire this secret , the investigator tested whether the stars could be drawing energy from the rich supplying of blue matter consider to exist at the galactic center .
A James Webb Space Telescope image of a 50 light-years-wide portion of the Milky Way’s center. An estimated 500,000 stars shine in this image of the Sagittarius C region.
" Our simulations show that if stars can collect large measure of dark issue , which annihilates inside the star , this can provide a alike outward pressure , making the star unchanging due to dark issue annihilation rather than atomic fusion — so star can utilize dark matter as a fuel instead of H , " John said . " The important departure is that stars expend up their hydrogen , which will eventually make them to die . On the other hand , star can collect dark matter incessantly . "
The work , published to the preprint server arXivin May , has not been peer reviewed yet .
Stars defying theory
Stellar evolution is a well - consider subject . relationship among a star ’s age , luminosity , size and temperature have been derived with high-pitched preciseness both with theory and galactic data . However , late observations have shown that the property of stars near the center of theMilky Waydefy the generally accepted theory of stellar evolution .
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" The inmost stars of our Galaxy , the S - cluster wizard , show a series of property that [ are ] not obtain anywhere else : It is not clear how they bewilder so close to the shopping mall , where the surround is thought to be rather hostile to star formation , " John explained . " They also seem to be much younger than what would be expected if the stars had moved there from somewhere else . to boot , it seems like there are out of the blue many large whizz . "
These unusual holding of the S - clustering star could be explained by the presence of an additional source of vigor within them . For instance , this extra energy source could allow the virtuoso to burn hydrogen — the common energy germ — at a lower charge per unit , cause it to age more slowly and appear younger than it really is .
In their late discipline , John , along withTim Lindenof Stockholm University andRebecca K. Leaneof the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University , evoke that this informant could be the annihilation of dark affair particles . This account aligns with the fact that greater amount of dismal issue are believe to lurk at the galaxy ’s center , flop where the oddball stars were observed .
" Throughout most of the Milky Way , the dark matter denseness is not high enough to involve hotshot , " John say . " But at the Galactic Center , the amount of dark thing is very high , potentially many billion timeshigher than on Earth . "
Virtual annihilation
To screen their hypothesis , the researchers carry a reckoner simulation of the life cycle of a genius surrounded by a dark subject swarm with a denseness mate that of the galactic centre . They usurp dark topic consists of weakly interacting monumental particles , one of the elemental prospect for dark-skinned affair constituent .
Since dark matter particles have not yet been found in laboratory experiments , the strength of their interaction with average matter and the rate at which they annihilate each other are not get it on . But the study show that for sure values of these quantity , the dark - thing - based mechanism of energy yield perfectly explained the ascertained properties of the S - cluster stars .
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However , to confirm their explanation , the generator trust that more stars need to be key out near the galactic center . Additionally , more precise measurements of the parameters of recognize stars must be conducted to dependably liken observation with theoretical forecasting . Hopefully , such observations will be possible in the near future tense using the Very great Telescope in Chile or the Keck Observatory in Hawaii , the researchers said .
" More precise observance of the S - cluster stars will provide us with more information about these lead and ongoing processes , " John enunciate . " This will show if the observations are consistent with our simulations , or if other explanation of their strange property become more favourable . "
