Astrophysicists looking at images from the James Webb Space Telescope have discovered three bright objects that are massive „dark stars” – the first stars in the universe.
Until now „dark stars” were theoretical. About 10 billion times brighter than our Sun, they are thought to have existed at the beginning of the universe before the stars we see today formed.
Published In Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesThe research reveals three objects that at first appear to be galaxies, but on closer inspection look like more diffuse bloated objects like „dark stars”.
„Dark stars” mark the beginning of the cosmic dawn, but they take on added significance because they are powered by dark matter particles.
Is dark matter revealed?
Dark matter, one of the deepest unsolved problems in all of physics, is thought to account for 85% of the matter in the universe and interacts only with gravity.
Scientists believe it contains a new type of invisible fundamental particle. It absorbs, reflects and does not emit light or energy. According to NASA. So dark matter is not directly detectable, highly hypothetical, although its existence can be inferred by its effect on other matter.
Follow-up observations are needed, but a confirmed discovery of „dark stars” could reveal the nature of dark matter.
„Finding a new type of star is very exciting, but what we find is dark matter, and it’s massive,” said co-author Katherine Freese of the Weinberg Institute for Theoretical Physics and Jeff and Gail Kotosky. Faculty position in physics at UT Austin.
Solving the mystery
If the three „dark stars” are real—JADES-GS-z13-0, JADES-GS-z12-0, and JADES-GS-z11-0—and revealing dark matter could help cosmologists solve the puzzle. JWST’s „Cosmic Dawn” images reveal lots of galaxies Too big to be too soon after the Big BangIf the standard model of cosmology is to be believed.
„It’s more likely that some tuning is needed within the standard model, because proposing something completely new like we did is always less likely,” Freese said. „But if some of these objects that look like early galaxies are actually dark stars, the simulations of galaxy formation agree better with observations.”
Last week, researchers using JWST discovered the most distant supermassive black hole ever, just 570 million years after the Big Bang.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
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