A galaxy without dark matter has been discovered
Astronomers have observed a galaxy with virtually no dark matter for the first time ever. Although we still don’t know what dark matter actually is, the entire Universe is dominated by it. However, the galaxy NGC 1052-DF2 poses a challenge to scientists because it appears to be devoid of it.
The discovery was made with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope’a, the Gemini Observatory and Teleskopoin Keck. There is more dark matter in the observed galaxies than regular matter. The entire Universe is dominated by it. That’s why scientists were surprised when they discovered the galaxy NGC 1052-DF2, ktora appears to have no dark matter.
Dark matter and galaxies go hand in hand. Usually there is not one without the other. At least that’s how it’s been so far, because the galaxy NGC 1052-DF2 is changing the established view. Until now, this invisible substance was thought to be the basic scaffolding on which theorym galaxies are built.
Dark matter is hypothetical matter, ktora, according to assumptions, does not emit or reflect light radiation, so it is very difficult to detect it. But its existence is betrayed by the gravitational effects it exerts. In this wayob scientists explain anomalies in galaxy rotation and galaxy motion in clusters. Despite years of searching, its existence has not been confirmed. Scientists are still trying to figure out the exact nature of dark matter and what creates it. According to them, dark matter accounts for about 27 percent of the. The balance of mass and energy of the Universe around us – In addition to ordinary matter and dark energy (whichora is also a hypothetical form of energy).
– It was thought that every galaxy has dark matter, and dark matter is the origin of the galaxy. This invisible, mysterious substance is the most dominant aspect of any galaxy. So finding a galaxy without it is a surprise. This challenges standard notions of what we thought about how galaxies work. The discovery suggests rown that there may be more than one wayob for the formation of a galaxy – said Pieter van Dokkum of Yale University in New Haven, Glowny researcher of the Hubble Space Telescope’a.
The unique galaxy NGC 1052-DF2 contains at most 1/400th the amount of dark matter that astronomers expected. A galaxy slightly larger than our Milky Way, but is difficult to observe because it has 250 times fewer stars. This is a relatively new type of galaxy, first observed in 2015. Although we did not know of their existence until recently, this type of galaxy is often found. However, none of them were so poor in dark matter. Even amongod of this unusual class, the galaxy NGC 1052-DF2 is an oddity.
Van Dokkum and his team of astronomersow searched for such galaxies using the Dragonfly Telephoto Array, Hubble Space Telescope’a, Gemini Observatory and Telescopeoin Kecka. The images obtained by the researchers clearly roGrown from other galaxies. They determined that NGC 1052-DF2 is very slow. Stars and clusters on the outskirts of galaxies containing dark matter move at least three times faster. They determined the roalso that the galaxy shows no signs of interacting with another galaxy.
– If in ogole there is any dark matter in the galaxy NGC 1052-DF2, there is very little of it there, van Dokkum explained after calculating the galaxy’s mass. – The stars in the galaxy explain all of its mass and there is no Am space for dark matter, he added.
Hubble Space Telescope images’a revealed the unusual appearance of the galaxy. – I spent an hour staring at the Hubble's image. It is rare, after so many years of telescope operation, that you get a picture of something and mowish: never seen this before. This galaxy is an amazing. It looks like a giant blob, but so rare that you can see all the galaxies behind it. It is literally a transparent galaxy – explained van Dokkum.
Galaxy NGC 1052-DF2 has no discernible central region or even spiral arms and disk, typical features of a spiral galaxy. But it also doesn’t look like an elliptical galaxy. There is no roalso indications that there is a black hole at its center. Researchers have determined that this strange galaxy has about 10 billionoin years.
– There is no theory thatora would predict the existence of such galaxies. NGC 1052-DF2 is a complete mystery. Everything about it is strange. Sposob how it was created is completely unknown – van Dokkum admitted.
But the scientists have some concept. NGC 1052-DF2 is located at a distance of about 65 millionoIn light years away from us in a collection of galaxies dominated by the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 1052. Van Dokkum suggested that the growth of this galaxy billions of years ago likely played a role in the scarcity of dark matter in NGC 1052-DF2. Another idea mowi about the fact that a huge cataclysm ejected all the gas and matter and stopped the formation of stars. But, researchers say, these are pure speculation and do not explain all the features of the observed galaxy.