Though there’s still a lack of evidence, scientists are certain that most of the objects in the universe comprise invisible dark matter. And with a new experiment, they’ve managed to narrow down the list of ways to find it.

Astronomers recently made use of the NASA observatory NuSTAR to look for X-rays coming from the core of the nearby star Betelgeuse, reported Live Science. The report suggests this could be a sign that axions, a dark matter particle candidate, are present there.

Dark Matter particles

It could be possible because Betelgeuse is particularly large in size and also very hot. Scientists believe that it’s churning out dark matter particles more than any other star. Unfortunately, the scientists failed to find anything, MIT physicist and project leader Mengjiao Xiao told Live Science; however, the project is an important step towards actually finding dark matter next time around.

Since researchers didn’t find axions this time, they might now have a better understanding of how to initiate a more successful search in the future, MIT physicist Joshua Foster told Live Science.

Paving the way for future discoveries

Foster has also previously conducted similar studies on different stars. He explained that the new study put new constraints on previously known properties of axions.

Since there are many signals mucking up data from star research, scientists need to be affirmative of what they are seeking before they can find it. There are many new discoveries happening all over the world that help scientists learn more about extraterrestrial objects.

Recently, Japanese researchers discovered that a star’s full-grown size depends on how good it is at competing with its neighboring stars for resources. Earlier it was assumed that the size depends on the size of its core. The team is now planning to study different pockets of space, and if the discovery shows similar results, it could rewrite our understanding of star formation and how they interact with other stars in the galaxy.