Detection of the 3.5 keV line in X-ray observations

[phyzguy]

This link is yet another detection of a 3.5 KeV line in long exposure X-ray astronomy observations. It seems that this line is really there, since it has been seen in multiple objects with multiple instruments. I haven't seen any convincing explanations of this line as being due to atomic transitions, and so its interpretation as being due to the decay of ~7KeV sterile neutrinos is still viable. Anybody care to comment?

 

[Chronos]

The 3.5 KeV line is still debated [sometimes a little hotly - which admittedly sounds a bit ironic]. The detection seems persistent, albeit not unambiguous. The argument over instrument noise vs a spurious transition line vs a genuine signal remains unresolved. The paper; https://arxiv.org/abs/1607.07420, Hitomi constraints on the 3.5 keV line in the Perseus galaxy cluster, appears to be the most recent hat in the ring. Their results were inconclusive. It will be interesting to see the next shoe drop in this matter.