Four fifths of the matter in the universe consists of dark matter, whose nature remains unknown and is the subject of intense theoretical and experimental study. The centers of galaxies provide promising targets to search for the nature of dark matter, but only if astrophysical emissions can be well understood. After an introduction to dark matter, I will discuss studies of the Milky Way galactic center in pursuit of dark matter signals. I will cover a tantalizing signal, highlight the importance of astrophysical emissions and modeling to establish its validity, and discuss implications for dark matter. I will finish with some promising directions for the future.
