Astronomers have announced a new theory that three points of light in the universe could be “dark stars.” These radiate by annihilating the dark matter within. This was reported by “Scinexx”, citing a publication published by Colgate University in New York.
It can grow as large and massive as a small galaxy and is thought to be a possible ancestor of supermassive black holes. For a long time these points of light were also assumed to be early galaxies.
The theory states that these “dark stars” form when a lot of dark matter accumulates in addition to hydrogen and helium. As the gas clouds cool and collapse, they pull the dark matter with them. This leads to the intense annihilation of the dark matter particles – releasing their energy causes the collapsing gas cloud to glow.
In December 2022, four reddish points of light dating back more than 13.4 billion years were discovered. Three of these objects meet the criteria for dark matter stars in terms of size and optical properties.
The existence of such dark stars can only be proven when a specific spectral line is observed. Astrophysicists expect the presence of a dark absorption line with a wavelength of 1640 nanometers in the spectrum of these stars.
If these three points of reddish light are indeed confirmed as dark matter stars, it could help clarify some open questions about the early universe.
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