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A "dark galaxy" is an astronomical object with a large mass and totate like a galaxy but contains no stars, or none that we can detect.
The Beeb:
Weird stuff.
The Beeb:
A dark galaxy is an area in the Universe containing a large amount of mass that rotates like a galaxy, but contains no stars.
It was found 50 million light years away using radio telescopes in Cheshire and Puerto Rico.
The unknown material that is thought to hold these dark galaxies together is known as 'dark matter', but scientists still know very little about what that is.
The five-year research has involved studying the distribution of hydrogen atoms throughout the Universe, estimated by looking at the rotation of galaxies and the speed at which their components moved.
Hydrogen gas releases radiation that can be detected at radio wavelengths.
In the Virgo cluster of galaxies, they found a mass of hydrogen atoms a hundred million times the mass of the Sun.
The mysterious galaxy has been called VIRGOHI21.
Similar objects that have previously been discovered have since turned out to contain stars or be remnants of two galaxies colliding.
It was found 50 million light years away using radio telescopes in Cheshire and Puerto Rico.
The unknown material that is thought to hold these dark galaxies together is known as 'dark matter', but scientists still know very little about what that is.
The five-year research has involved studying the distribution of hydrogen atoms throughout the Universe, estimated by looking at the rotation of galaxies and the speed at which their components moved.
Hydrogen gas releases radiation that can be detected at radio wavelengths.
In the Virgo cluster of galaxies, they found a mass of hydrogen atoms a hundred million times the mass of the Sun.
The mysterious galaxy has been called VIRGOHI21.
Similar objects that have previously been discovered have since turned out to contain stars or be remnants of two galaxies colliding.
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