Dark Stars: A New Theory for the Universe's First Luminous Objects UPSC NOTE

  Dark Stars: A New Theory for the Universe's First Luminous Objects UPSC Relevance Prelims: Science and Technology (Space - Dark Matte...

 Dark Stars: A New Theory for the Universe's First Luminous Objects

UPSC Relevance

• Prelims: Science and Technology (Space - Dark Matter, Black Holes, James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Star formation and evolution).

• Mains:

• General Studies Paper 3 (S&T): Awareness in the fields of Space. Discoveries related to the early universe, dark matter, and black holes are significant developments.

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Key Highlights from the News)

• A new discovery suggests that some of the earliest stars in the universe did not generate energy like normal stars. ✨

• Instead of nuclear fusion, they shone with energy produced when dark matter particles annihilate.

• These hypothetical stars are called "dark stars".

• Researchers used data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to identify four potential dark star candidates.

• If this discovery is confirmed, it could answer two major puzzles in cosmology:

1. How did unusually bright objects form at the beginning of the universe?

2. How did the first supermassive black holes form?

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