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Integral disproves dark matter origin for mystery radiation

22 July 2009

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The left-hand panel shows the glow of 511 keV gamma rays coming from the annihilation of electrons by their antimatter counterparts, the positrons. The map shows the entire sky, with the galactic centre at the middle. The emission can be seen extending towards the right-hand side of the map. The right-hand panel shows the distribution of hard low mass X-ray binary stars. This stellar population has a distribution that matches the extent of the 511 keV map.

Credits: ESA/ Integral/ MPE (G. Weidenspointner et al.)

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This is an artist’s impression of ESA’s orbiting gamma-ray observatory, Integral.

Credits: ESA

Integral spots matter a millisecond from doom Integral discovers the galaxy’s antimatter cloud is lopsided Giant eruption reveals 'dead' star Be an Integral astronomer - competition Dissecting a stellar explosion XMM-Newton and Integral clues on magnetic powerhouses Faint gamma-ray bursts do actually exist Integral locates origin of high-energy emission from Crab Nebula

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Integral results leaflet (pdf)Integral mission brochure (pdf)