A second galaxy with no dark matter?

ack

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The first discovery sounded a little off the wall. This one raises some eyebrows

Remember that time astronomers discovered a galaxy with no dark matter? Well, they're back. They've found a second one, and it actually bolsters the case for dark matter's existence.

As the second galaxy astronomers have found without any dark matter, the new finding - named NGC 1052-DF4 (DF4 for short) - confirms that the first discovery, NGC 1052-DF2 (yep, DF2 for short), was not a mistake.

Upon its discovery, DF2 was actually a huge surprise, and threw a pretty hefty spanner in our current ideas about galaxy formation and dynamics, because dark matter is a vital part of our understanding of galaxies.

https://www.sciencealert.com/a-seco...rk-matter-ironically-supporting-its-existence


"Even though we did all the checks we could think of, we were worried that nature had thrown us for a loop and had conspired to make something look really special whereas it was really something more mundane."

Now, a new study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on March 27 shows van Dokkum and his team had it right all along.

According to the work, they've confirmed a ghostly galaxy located some 60 million light-years away named NGC 1052-DF2 (DF2 for short) has virtually no discernible dark matter. Furthermore, a second study published March 20 in the same journal announced the discovery of yet another dim and diffuse galaxy with a dearth of dark matter, nicknamed DF4.

Taken together, the new papers show DF2 is not alone, but instead part of a larger and previously unknown population of galaxies that have seemingly freed themselves from the bonds of dark matter. This new research may have dramatic implications for prevailing theories about the formation and evolution of galaxies, as well as the true nature of dark matter itself.

http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/03/ghostly-galaxy-without-dark-matter-confirmed

All of this simply tells me that we have absolutely no idea what dark matter may even begin to look like, if it even exists
 

Al M.

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All of this simply tells me that we have absolutely no idea what dark matter may even begin to look like, if it even exists

Yup, sounds about right.
 

ack

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May 6, 2010
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Boston, MA
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Al M.

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