Scientists first discovered a dark galaxy that does not emit light: what is the reason
Astronomers suggest that this galaxy consists almost entirely of a mysterious substance, the nature of which is not fully known.
All galaxies known to scientists have a different shape, as well as a different size. But basically they have the same components: a black hole in the center, a large number of stars, interstellar gas and dust, and they also include invisible dark matter. Scientists believe that it is this dark matter that allows galaxies to be solid structures. Of course, dark matter does not emit any light, but stars, gas, and the environment around a black hole do. But Chinese scientists have discovered a dwarf galaxy that does not emit visible light. In fact, it emits almost no light at all, writes ScienceAlert.
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A team of scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences using one of the most powerful radio telescopes in the world, the FAST telescope, discovered a dark dwarf galaxy at a distance of 94 million light years from us, which they called FAST J0139+4328. Scientists believe that it contains a small number of stars and is mainly composed of mysterious dark matter, and therefore emits almost no light. Scientists say they have discovered for the first time an isolated dark dwarf galaxy in the universe closest to us.
Scientists now believe that dark matter, which is part of all galaxies, explains why there is a discrepancy between the amount of ordinary matter and the force of gravity, which is needed to hold this matter together. That is, if it were not for dark matter, then all galaxies that rotate too fast would fly apart. But the nature of dark matter is still a mystery to scientists, because it does not interact with ordinary matter.
Another problem for astronomers is that theories suggest there are far more dwarf galaxies in space than scientists have discovered. Therefore, astronomers assume that some types of dwarf galaxies contain a small amount of stars and gas, and are mainly composed of dark matter. This means they are incredibly hard to find.
According to scientists, in order to accurately determine this type of dwarf galaxy, it must be isolated from other large galaxies and “live its own life” in space.
Therefore, Chinese scientists began to search for such an unusual object and they were lucky. Using a radio telescope, scientists have discovered a dark dwarf galaxy for the first time. Although there have already been some candidates for dark galaxies before, they have not yet found confirmation of their status. Now scientists believe that this is it. Subsequent infrared and ultraviolet observations revealed the presence of a small number of stars in the FAST J0139+4328 galaxy.
