Overview
- University of Tokyo astronomer Tomonori Totani analyzed about 15 years of NASA Fermi data and identified a halo-shaped gamma-ray excess around the Galactic center that peaks near 20 GeV.
- The measured spectrum and morphology align with predictions for WIMP annihilation, suggesting particles roughly 500 times the proton mass and an annihilation rate within standard models.
- The findings, published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, are presented by the author as a strong indication rather than definitive proof.
- Independent experts caution that complex backgrounds and analysis choices in Fermi data can mimic such signals, noting unresolved debates over previous Galactic-center excess claims and the possibility of astrophysical sources or artifacts.
- Key checks now include reanalyses by other groups, searches for the same 20 GeV feature in dark-matter–dominated dwarf galaxies, continued Fermi monitoring, and follow-up with CTAO and complementary underground detectors.