 |
Astronomers photographed the ultradiffuse galaxy Dragonfly 44 using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on the 8-meter Gemini North telescope in Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
Credit: Pieter van Dokkum, Roberto Abraham, Gemini Observatory/AURA |
Dragonfly 44 lurks in the not so properly visible part of the sky. It is strange because it contains almost 99.99% of dark matter!
Dark matter as we know cannot be seen, but can be identified because of the effect of its gravity,its is not astonishing that in the whole mass of the universe, 80%is that of dark matter,but is surely amazing that a galaxy can contain 99.99% of it, this means that it would make it almost 90% less bright than a average galaxy, but still it is the most brightest among its neighbors.Though it is a big as the milky way itself ,it is only 1% as bright as milky way galaxy.
This dark galaxy, Dragonfly 44, gives out very little light making it tough to detect. But using the Gemini multi-object spectrograph from the Gemini telescope in Hawaii, a group of scientists discovered this dark galaxy.
A dirty smudge in space
The team then went to the Gemini Observatory, also in Mauna Kea, to take new photos of Dragonfly 44. Using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrometer (GMOS), they created a color image of the galaxy. The dim, spheroidal galaxy looks a bit like a dirty smudge on a photo of deep space.
New images from GMOS also revealed a halo of star clusters similar to the halo around the Milky Way. Some researchers believe that dark matter could be responsible for light halos around galaxies. If true, this means that dark matter might not be perfectly dark at all.
“Ultimately what we really want to learn is what dark matter is,” van Dokkum said. “The race is on to find massive dark galaxies that are even closer to us than Dragonfly 44, so we can look for feeble signals that may reveal a dark matter particle.”
via Space.com
know more about dark matter
By Aditya
Hey guys don't forget to comment and like !!
No comments:
Post a Comment