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Hubble Telescope Discovers Rare Galaxy that Is 99% Dark Matter
CDG-2 is detected by a tight group of four globular clusters and is estimated to be 99% dark matter, making it one of the darkest galaxies identified, researchers said.
- NASA shared high-resolution images today as researchers led by Dayi Li identified Candidate Dark Galaxy-2, or CDG-2, estimating roughly 99% of its mass is dark matter.
- The discovery began when astronomers noticed a tight grouping of four globular clusters in the Perseus galaxy cluster, and stacking Hubble, Euclid, and Subaru data revealed a faint glow matching their position.
- Measured properties show CDG-2 emits light equivalent to about six million Sun-like stars, contains four globular clusters versus the Milky Way's over 150, and those clusters contribute roughly 16% of the visible light.
- The discovery suggests current starlight surveys may miss many faint galaxies, and the team's technique could revise galaxy counts and formation models by finding more hidden systems.
- Scientists caution that CDG-2 is a candidate needing follow-up observations, as dissenters note alternatives remain unexcluded and past surprises like last year's Segue 1 black hole urge caution.
14 Articles
14 Articles
For decades, dark matter has been one of the greatest enigmas of modern cosmology. We know that it does not emit, absorb, or reflect light (that is why it remains invisible) but we also know that it exerts a decisive gravitational influence on the way galaxies rotate and cluster. Its presence is so dominant that more than 80% of matter in the universe cannot be seen, only to be inferred by how space curves and guides the movement of stars and ga…
Hubble and Euclid Team Up To Identify A Dark Matter Galaxy
We know galaxies by their powerful illumination, generated by multitudes of stars. But some galaxies can be very dim. These are hypothesized to be dark galaxies, or dark matter galaxies. They're theoretical, and only candidates have been identified, but researchers may have confirmed the very first one.
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