Most matter in the Universe is in a “dark matter” form that has only been observed through its gravitational interaction. How warm is this dark matter? A new constraint has become available thanks to the observations of the line-of-sight velocities of individual stars in dwarf spheroidal galaxies dSph, which allow a measurement of the dark matter density
. From the measured
of 27 dwarf spheroidal galaxies dSph, we obtain an estimate of the comoving thermal velocity and mass of the dark matter particles.
References
[1]
Yang, H., Wang, W., Zhu, L., Li, T.S., et al. (2025) The Dark Matter Content of Milky Way Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies: Draco, Sextans and Ursa Minor. arXiv: 2507.02284.
[2]
Pascale, R., Nipoti, C., Calura, F. and Della Croce, A. (2025) Leo I: The Classical Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy with the Highest Dark Matter Density. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 700, A77. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202555004
[3]
Pickett, C.S., Collins, M.L.M., Rich, R.M., Read, J.I., Charles, E.J.E., Martin, N., et al. (2025) Mass Modelling the Andromeda Dwarf Galaxies: Andromeda VI and Andromeda XXIII. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 540, 1701-1718. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf796
[4]
Collins, M.L.M., Read, J.I., Ibata, R.A., Rich, R.M., et al. (2021) Andromeda XXI—A Dwarf Galaxy in a Low Density Dark Matter Halo. arXiv: 2102.11890.
[5]
Charles, E.J.E., Collins, M.L.M., Rich, R.M., Read, J.I., et al. (2022) Andromeda XXV—A Dwarf Galaxy with a Low Central Dark Matter Density. arXiv: 2209.15022.
[6]
Bezrukov, F., Gorbunov, D. and Koreshkova, E. (2025) Refining Lower Bounds on Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter Mass from Estimates of Phase Space Densities in Dwarf Galaxies. arXiv: 2412.20585.
[7]
Hoeneisen, B. (2022) Measurement of the Dark Matter Velocity Dispersion with Dwarf Galaxy Rotation Curves. International Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 12, 363-381. https://doi.org/10.4236/ijaa.2022.124021
[8]
Hoeneisen, B. (2019) The Adiabatic Invariant of Dark Matter in Spiral Galaxies. International Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 9, 355-367.
[9]
Hoeneisen, B. (2025) Warm Dark Matter Studies with Spiral Galaxy Data. International Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 15, 336-355. https://doi.org/10.4236/ijaa.2025.154021
[10]
Hoeneisen, B. (2024) Understanding Elliptical Galaxies with Warm Dark Matter. Physics of the Dark Universe, 46, Article ID: 101643. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dark.2024.101643
[11]
Hoeneisen, B. (2025) The Warm Dark Matter Plus Baryon Linear Power Spectrum. International Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 15, 264-281. https://doi.org/10.4236/ijaa.2025.153017
[12]
Boyanovsky, D., de Vega, H.J. and Sanchez, N.G. (2008) Dark Matter Transfer Function: Free Streaming, Particle Statistics, and Memory of Gravitational Clustering. Physical Review D, 78, Article ID: 063546. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.78.063546
[13]
Viel, M., Lesgourgues, J., Haehnelt, M.G., Matarrese, S. and Riotto, A. (2005) Constraining Warm Dark Matter Candidates Including Sterile Neutrinos and Light Gravitinos with WMAP and the Lyman-α Forest. Physical Review D, 71, Article ID: 063534. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.71.063534
[14]
Hoeneisen, B. (2024) Measurements of the Dark Matter Mass, Temperature and Spin. International Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 14, 184-202. https://doi.org/10.4236/ijaa.2024.143012
[15]
Pace, A.B. (2025) The Local Volume Database: A Library of the Observed Properties of Nearby Dwarf Galaxies and Star Clusters. arXiv: 2411.07424.
[16]
Hoeneisen, B. (2022) Measurement of the Dark Matter Velocity Dispersion with Galaxy Stellar Masses, UV Luminosities, and Reionization. International Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 12, 258-272. https://doi.org/10.4236/ijaa.2022.123015
[17]
Hoeneisen, B. (2025) Why Do Galaxies Have Extended Flat Rotation Curves? International Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 15, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.4236/ijaa.2025.151001
[18]
Lin, H., Gong, Y., Yue, B. and Chen, X. (2023) Implications of the Stellar Mass Density of High-z Massive Galaxies from JWST on Warm Dark Matter. Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 24, Article ID: 015009. https://doi.org/10.1088/1674-4527/ad0864
[19]
Lapi, A., Ronconi, T., Boco, L., Shankar, F., Krachmalnicoff, N., Baccigalupi, C., et al. (2022) Astroparticle Constraints from Cosmic Reionization and Primordial Galaxy Formation. Universe, 8, Article 476. https://doi.org/10.3390/universe8090476
[20]
Hoeneisen, B. (2026) Estimate of the Warm Dark Matter Free-Streaming Cut-Off with Isolated Dwarf Galaxies in the Local Field. International Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 16, 11-24. https://doi.org/10.4236/ijaa.2026.161002
[21]
Macciò, A.V., Paduroiu, S., Anderhalden, D., Schneider, A. and Moore, B. (2012) Cores in Warm Dark Matter Haloes: A Catch 22 Problem. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 424, 1105-1112. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21284.x
[22]
Schneider, A., Smith, R.E. and Reed, D. (2013) Halo Mass Function and the Free Streaming Scale. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 433, 1573-1587. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt829
[23]
Liu, B., Shan, H. and Zhang, J. (2024) New Galaxy UV Luminosity Constraints on Warm Dark Matter from JWST. The Astrophysical Journal, 968, Article 79. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad4ed8
[24]
Navas, S., et al. (2024) The Review of Particle Physics. Physical Review D, 110, Article ID: 030001.
[25]
Hoeneisen, B. (2019) A Study of Dark Matter with Spiral Galaxy Rotation Curves. International Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 9, 71-96. https://doi.org/10.4236/ijaa.2019.92007
[26]
Hoeneisen, B. (2022) Warm Dark Matter and the Formation of First Galaxies. Journal of Modern Physics, 13, 932-948. https://doi.org/10.4236/jmp.2022.136053
[27]
Chavanis, P. (2022) Predictive Model of Fermionic Dark Matter Halos with a Quantum Core and an Isothermal Atmosphere. Physical Review D, 106, Article ID: 043538. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.106.043538