Scientists spot hints of dark-matter blast

Balloon-borne instrument detects cosmic rays from unknown source

WASHINGTON - A balloon-borne instrument soaring high over Antarctica has found potential evidence of a large clump of mysterious dark matter relatively close to our solar system, scientists said Wednesday.

It detected an unexpected amount of very high energy cosmic-ray electrons coming from an unknown source within about 3,000 light-years of the solar system. A light-year is 6 trillion miles (10 trillion kilometers), the distance light travels in a year.

One explanation is that the electrons may have been spawned as dark matter particles collided with one another, triggering their mutual annihilation, according to Louisiana State University physics professor John Wefel.

Scientists think about 23 percent of the universe is made up of dark matter, which responds to gravity much the same as ordinary matter such as stars and planets. While the stuff is thought to be strewn throughout the cosmos, it is invisible and poorly understood. Scientists have struggled to find any solid evidence of dark matter, and the new study could represent a major step forward in that effort.

“This would be the first indirect detection of the annihilation signature of predicted dark matter particles,�?Wefel, who helped lead the research published in the journal Nature, said in a telephone interview.

Scientists think regular matter amounts to about 24 percent of the universe’s mass-energy content. The remaining 73 percent or so is thought to be composed of dark energy, a mysterious presence that may be making the universe expand at an accelerated pace.

Scientists think dark matter is distributed somewhat uniformly throughout the universe, with clumps forming around concentrations of regular matter �?for example, galaxies �?due to their gravitational pull.

The scientists think the electrons detected by the instrument may come from one of these clumps located relatively close in astronomical terms to our solar system.

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{ If you look up at the sky at night the visible universe alone looks vast and populated with billions of stars. Yet the vast majority of matter in the universe is invisible or "dark" and we don't even know what it is or where it came from. We do know it is effected by gravity and hangs around regular matter such as galaxies. It's the 700 pound gorilla in our celestial room.....a little hard to ignore. Whatever it is....it must have a purpose. It must be there for some reason....or is it? Is there any rhyme or reason to the universe? We know the universe follows certain well established rules of physic's but that only helps explain the "how" ....but not the "why". Why is it there? What purpose does it serve?

If God created the universe why did he do it? For us? It's way too big for our species. Just our solar system is a big enough challenge for us. Space is infinite.....why? Why do we or God need an infinite space? Some say the universe exists just because it exists. It is a "fact" and that's it. Well......is that any harder to fathom than a universe created by a god for purposes unknown?

Somewhere out there all the answers are hidden and waiting for us like Easter eggs stashed away around the house. Everything from the origins of the universe to the origins of God. All we have to do is find them and fill our basket. We are not infinate so we won't live long enough to find all the answers but our species should and generations yet unborn may someday know....all. Everything there is too know. Maybe that is our real purpose in life and the universe's as well.}