SAEDNEWS: NASA scientists have confirmed what they say is the first known example of a starless, gas-rich object dominated by dark matter, based on Hubble Space Telescope observations released on Monday.
“This is a tale of a failed galaxy,” said principal investigator Alejandro Benitez-Llambay of the University of Milano-Bicocca, pointing to the absence of stars as the defining feature, according to NASA.
“In science, we usually learn more from the failures than from the successes.”
Meanwhile, team member Andrew Fox of AURA/STScI said the object offers unusual insight into unseen cosmic structures.
“This cloud is a window into the dark universe,” Fox said, referring to dark matter, which does not emit light.
In a related development, the findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and presented Monday at the 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Phoenix.
Follow-up observations using Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys confirmed that Cloud-9 contains no stars, reinforcing the original conclusion.
“With Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys, we’re able to nail down that there’s nothing there,” said lead author Gagandeep Anand of STScI.
Separately, NASA said the discovery supports long-standing theories about primordial “failed galaxies” and opens new avenues for studying the dark components of the early universe.
