\n\t\t\t\t\t\tA starless discovery by astronomers in Baltimore is shedding new light on dark matter.Astronomers told WBAL-TV 11 News that what’s known as Cloud-9 is the first of a new gas object discovered in the universe called a Reionization-Limited H I Cloud (RELHIC).”It is a starless gas cloud in a dark matter halo, which is effectively a galaxy that wasn’t, or a failed galaxy. It never formed stars, so it has all the components, and it could have become a galaxy, but it never did,” said Dr. Rachael Beaton, an associate astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore.Beaton explained it’s a relic of when galaxies were forming.”We weren’t sure if we were going to be able to find them today, nearly 14 billion years after the Big Bang,” Beaton told WBAL-TV 11 News.Dr. Andrew Fox, an astronomer with the European Space Agency and the deputy manager of STScI’s Instrument and Science Support Branch, said this discovery sets a new precedent in the field of dark matter research.”I think the importance of this Cloud-9 is that now we know where to find these types of failed galaxies, we’re more likely to know where to find more in the future,” Fox told WBAL-TV 11 News.Fox said utilizing the Hubble Telescope was crucial to confirm Cloud-9’s starless quality. “The thing that amazes me is that even after several hours of pointing Hubble, we couldn’t find a single star, not even one we could confirm was part of the galaxy,” Fox told WBAL-TV 11 News.Beaton said she has been asked why astronomers gave Cloud-9 such a simple name. There’s good reason for that.”It’s the ninth cloud that was found around this galaxy, M94. We just count them,” Beaton told WBAL-TV 11 News.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tBALTIMORE \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
A starless discovery by astronomers in Baltimore is shedding new light on dark matter.<\/p>\n
Astronomers told WBAL-TV 11 News that what’s known as Cloud-9 is the first of a new gas object discovered in the universe called a Reionization-Limited H I Cloud (RELHIC).<\/p>\n
“It is a starless gas cloud in a dark matter halo, which is effectively a galaxy that wasn’t, or a failed galaxy. It never formed stars, so it has all the components, and it could have become a galaxy, but it never did,” said Dr. Rachael Beaton, an associate astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute<\/a> (STScI) in Baltimore.<\/p>\n Beaton explained it’s a relic of when galaxies were forming.<\/p>\n “We weren’t sure if we were going to be able to find them today, nearly 14 billion years after the Big Bang,” Beaton told WBAL-TV 11 News.<\/p>\n Dr. Andrew Fox, an astronomer with the European Space Agency and the deputy manager of STScI’s Instrument and Science Support Branch, said this discovery sets a new precedent in the field of dark matter research.<\/p>\n “I think the importance of this Cloud-9 is that now we know where to find these types of failed galaxies, we’re more likely to know where to find more in the future,” Fox told WBAL-TV 11 News.<\/p>\n