Doha: NASA scientists have identified what they describe as the universe's first confirmed example of a starless, gas-rich object dominated by dark matter, shedding new light on how galaxies form. The finding is based on observations by the Hubble Space Telescope and centers on an object dubbed 'Cloud-9,' detected near the spiral galaxy Messier 94.
According to Anadolu Agency - English, principal investigator Alejandro Benitez-Llambay of the University of Milano-Bicocca explained that the absence of stars is the key evidence of this phenomenon. He stated, 'This is a tale of a failed galaxy,' underscoring the significance of learning from such cosmic failures in scientific study.
Team member Andrew Fox of AURA/STScI emphasized that such objects offer rare observational access to dark matter, which does not emit light. 'This cloud is a window into the dark universe,' he noted.
The results of this discovery were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and presented at the 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Phoenix. Follow-up imaging with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys confirmed that Cloud-9 contains no stars, as lead author Gagandeep Anand of STScl highlighted. 'With Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys, we're able to nail down that there's nothing there,' he confirmed.
According to NASA, researchers said the discovery supports long-standing theories about primordial 'failed galaxies' and opens new paths for studying the dark components of the early universe.