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Astronomers discovered largest concentration of dark matter in galaxy that is practically in our backyard.
Scientists from Caltech have made a breathtaking discovery. According to their finding, it seems that a nearby dwarf galaxy harbors largest dark matter concentration ever discovered.
This discovery is now without difficulty. Actually, the scientists were able to discover the dark matter concentration in the first place, by taking a good look at the mass of the galaxy. As we know, dark matter is invisible both to the naked eye and specialized instruments. You can just take a peek through the scope and pray to find dark matter out there. The only way to see if black matter really exists is to study its effects on nearby celestial body. Comparing masses and studying gravitational fields are your best bets when it comes to dark matter investigation.
One of the lead star investigators from Caltech made an interesting statement. Evan Kirby said that the research project was actually centered on calculating the number of stars in nearby Triangulum II galaxy. By measuring the total mass of the galaxy, which accounts for almost 1000 stars, the team has discovered a slight discrepancy. The galaxy weights more than it should, meaning that if you put all the stars together in some sort of cosmic scale and the galaxy itself in another, we would discover that the galaxy weights more than all the stars put together.
The most plausible explanation that accounts for this mysterious extra weight is the presence of pockets of highly concentrated and compact dark matter.
There is also another lead that points up to the presence of dark matter clouds. When measuring the quantity of light emanating from the stars, the team of scientists encountered yet another mystery. It would seem that 1000 bodies made of pure light do not account for the low quantity of light coming from the galaxy. Evans stressed out that the only theory capable of taking into account the two findings is the presence of dark matter, concentrated in cloud-like formations.
The dwarf galaxy that conceals high concentration of dark matter could attract more attention from the scientific community. That means that, in the near futures, scientists will not have to search high and low for galaxies comprised of dark matter. Not when we have something in our backyard. They are highly interested to see and measure how the particles are able to collide inside a dark matter cloud.
Maybe we should place a call to Enterprise and ask Trip to borrow us a couple of photon torpedoes capable of illuminating that which cannot be illuminated.
Image source:deviantart.net
