Galaxy Discovered That Can’t Be Explained
Astronomers have discovered a dwarf galaxy called FCC 224, which is located about 60 million light years from Earth. In this galaxy, scientists have not found any dark matter, the main component needed to create galaxies.
The results of the study were published in the journals Astrophysical Journal and Astronomy & Astrophysics, writes Phys.
According to scientists, globular star clusters are often used to estimate the amount of dark matter in galaxies. We remind you that this form of matter is invisible and its existence can only be judged by the gravitational influence on ordinary matter, which makes up stars and the entire visible Universe.
Astronomers have found an incredibly large number of globular star clusters in the dwarf galaxy FCC 224, but they have also found no dark matter. At least, no dark matter has been detected in the inner part of the galaxy.
Traditional models of galaxy formation cannot explain how FCC 224 came into being, scientists say. That’s because dark matter is thought to be the main ingredient that helps create galaxies.
Previously, astronomers had discovered only two dwarf galaxies, DF2 and DF4, which are part of the NGC 1052 galaxy group, where dark matter was also not detected. Astronomers decided to check how similar the galaxy FCC 224 is to the two above-mentioned galaxies.
As a result, scientists found that FCC 224 has the same globular star clusters as DF2 and DF4. Scientists believe that these types of star clusters may be related to the lack of dark matter in galaxies, but this challenges existing theories that explain the evolution of galaxies.
Astronomers have measured the motion of stars inside galaxies, which can be used to determine the amount of dark matter, and have found every indication that this form of matter is not there.
Scientists are currently unable to explain how the galaxy FCC 224 formed. Astronomers suggest that a collision with another galaxy could have led to the separation of dark and normal matter, but this hypothesis requires confirmation through further observations.
The new discovery suggests that galaxies without dark matter may be more common in the universe than previously thought. This raises the question: is dark matter really necessary for the formation of galaxies?
Scientists intend to continue searching for similar galaxies to understand the role of dark matter in their formation and to find out how they were actually created.
