Overview
- University of Tokyo astronomer Tomonori Totani analyzed 15 years of NASA Fermi gamma-ray telescope data and reports a diffuse glow centered on the Milky Way.
- The signal peaks near 20 GeV and forms a halo-like pattern around the Galactic Center, matching expectations for annihilating weakly interacting massive particles.
- The inferred spectrum is consistent with WIMPs of roughly 500 proton masses, and the reported intensity challenges explanation by common astrophysical sources.
- Several researchers urge caution, noting the absence so far of analogous emissions from nearby dark‑matter‑rich dwarf galaxies and proposing alternatives linked to the Fermi bubbles.
- The study, published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, calls for independent reanalyses and targeted searches to confirm or refute a dark matter origin.