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The Milky Way Could Be Teeming with More Satellite Galaxies than Previously Thought
DURHAM UNIVERSITY, ENGLAND, JUL 11 – Durham University scientists predict up to 100 faint satellite galaxies orbiting the Milky Way, supporting the Lambda Cold Dark Matter model and resolving the missing satellites puzzle.
- On July 11, 2025, Durham University researchers presented findings at the Royal Astronomical Society's meeting showing the Milky Way may have many more satellite galaxies.
- This research used new techniques combining high-resolution supercomputer simulations and mathematical modeling to predict nearly 80 to 100 faint satellite galaxies beyond the 60 already known.
- These so-called 'orphan' galaxies are extremely faint and stripped of most of their dark matter by the Milky Way’s gravity, causing them to be missed in earlier models and observations.
- Professor Carlos Frenk explained that finding these faint satellite galaxies would be a significant confirmation of the Lambda Cold Dark Matter theory, demonstrating how theoretical physics and advanced computational models can make accurate predictions that observations can verify.
- Advances like the recent first light of the Rubin Observatory’s LSST camera should soon enable astronomers to detect these faint galaxies, potentially confirming the predictions and strengthening cosmological models.
17 Articles
17 Articles
The Milky Way Could be Surrounded by 100 Satellite Galaxies
The Milky Way is surrounded by about 60 satellite galaxies. The famous ones are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. But according to a new simulation, the Milky Way could have 80 and even 100 satellite galaxies that we haven't detected so far. These galaxies will be hard to find. They've had most of their mass stripped by the gravity of the Milky Way's halo. But new telescopes like Vera Rubin should be able to spot them.
100 ghost galaxies may be orbiting the Milky Way—and we’re just now uncovering them
New supercomputer simulations suggest the Milky Way could be surrounded by dozens more faint, undetected satellite galaxies—up to 100 more than we currently know. These elusive "orphan" galaxies have likely been stripped of their dark matter by the Milky Way’s gravity and hidden from view. If spotted by next-gen telescopes like the Rubin Observatory’s LSST, they could solidify our understanding of the Universe’s structure and deliver a stunning …
Milky Way could invalidate the hypothesis of exotic matter and favor a gravitomagnetic solution to explain dark matter
We demonstrate a very general mathematical and physical expression of the rotation speed at the end of the galaxy (far from the vast majority of the galaxy’s baryonic mass) obtained from General Relativity without non-baryonic matter. We show the excellent agreement with measurements obtained for the Milky Way published in a recent article which confirms a significantly faster decline in the circular velocity curve at outer galactic radii up to …
Behold These Hidden Galaxies
Our cosmic neighborhood may be teeming with hidden galaxies. And if new simulations that suggest the existence of such features are borne out by actual observations, we may better understand how our universe is built and how galaxies form in the first place. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . A team led by cosmologists at Durham University in the United Kingdom have proposed the locations of 80 to 100 small, fain…
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