uranologist have discovered a galaxy that upends what we thought about extragalactic nebula . A young study inNaturereports that this one has almost no dark affair — unlike just about every other galaxy ever observed .
foretell NGC1052 - DF2 , the new extragalactic nebula is an radical - soft wandflower , atypethat is declamatory but still appears light and contain few stars . Ultra - diffuse galaxy in themselves are n’t very rare , but scientist have never respect one without a significant amount ofdark matter , a component cerebrate to be a vital part of the galaxy - formation process .
" For decades , we think that galaxies take off their sprightliness as blobs of moody matter , " said Yale University astronomerPieter van Dokkum , contribute generator of the subject field , in apress release . " NGC1052 - DF2 challenge the standard ideas of how we conceive galaxies contour . "
The research squad first observe the galaxy , situate 6.5 billion promiscuous - years from the Milky Way , using the Dragonfly Telephoto Array in New Mexico , a scope designed specifically for finding ultra - diffuse galaxies . They also gathered data from the Gemini North Observatory and W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii and several other telescope around the world .
They reveal the deficiency of drear subject in the beetleweed from spectral information that showed that objective in the organization were move slower than require , mean the system did n’t have a lot of mass . By their calculation , the tidy sum of the extragalactic nebula can be almost entirely attributed to the ace , mean there is petty sullen matter there — a line to just about any other galaxy observed . ( Meanwhile , in 2016 , van Dokkum and his team found an ultra - soft galaxy that is made up of99.9 percentdark matter . )
" There is no possibility that predicted these types of galaxies , " van Dokkum said . “ The galaxy is a complete mystery , as everything about it is unusual . How you actually go about forming one of these thing is completely unknown . "
The find provides more evidence for the dark matterhypothesis , and mean that it is n’t just a part of coltsfoot formation . It exist on its own , disjoined from its role as a galaxy ingredient . The research team has already found a few other diffuse galaxies that seem to resemble this new beetleweed , and plans to remain searching for and study these sour - matter - free systems .
