Search for Dark Matter Induced Airglow in Planetary Atmospheres

TL;DR

This paper proposes that dark matter annihilation could cause ultraviolet airglow in planetary atmospheres and analyzes spacecraft data to set new constraints on dark matter properties, opening a new observational avenue.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of dark matter-induced airglow and uses spacecraft data to constrain dark matter interactions with nucleons.

Findings

Set new upper limits on dark matter-nucleon cross section (~10^{-40} cm^2)

Detected no definitive dark matter-induced airglow signals

Proposed future ultraviolet observations as a dark matter detection method

Abstract

We point out that dark matter can illuminate planetary skies via ultraviolet airglow. Dark matter annihilation products can excite molecular hydrogen, which then deexcites to produce ultraviolet emission in the Lyman and Werner bands. We search for this new effect by analyzing nightside ultraviolet radiation data from Voyager 1, Voyager 2, and New Horizons flybys of Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, and Jupiter. Our findings set new constraints on the dark matter-nucleon scattering cross section down to about $10^{-40}~$cm$^2$. We highlight that future ultraviolet airglow measurements of Solar System planets or other worlds provide a new dark matter discovery avenue.