Mysterious galaxies baffling astronomers by missing key substance

ASTRONOMERS have reported finding a galaxy lacking dark matter -- a discovery that challenges one of cosmology's most fundamental theories.

This galaxy, named AGC 114905, is one of several that astronomers have discovered over the past few years is supposedly bereft of dark matter.

After forty hours of observation with a state-of-the-art telescope, researchers concluded that AGC 114905, which is 250-million light-years away, is relatively the same size as our own galaxy.

The galaxy, however, possess about 1,000 times fewer stars than the Milky Way and is classified as an ultra-diffuse dwarf galaxy due to its faltering luminosity. 

The consensus surrounding galaxies (and ultra-diffuse dwarf galaxies) is that they can only exist if they are held together by dark matter.

If scientists can confirm that AGC 114905 is indeed dark-matter-free, they will be forced to reevaluate the theory of what the universe's unseen mass comprises.

"Different types of galaxies that are not exactly the same, measured with different techniques, seem to be telling a somewhat similar [story],” said Pavel E. Mancera Piña, a member of the Netherlands-based team that studied AGC 114905.

Galexies that are theoretically free of dark-matter are not only perplexing to scientists, but paradoxical to the postulation that our own galaxy and nearby Andromeda possess it.

Scientists' observations of Andromeda and the Milky Way's gravitional rotation around a massive matter-filled center have led to the Lambda-CDM (LCDM) model of cosmology, which posits that all galaxies should have plenty of dark matter.

Still, even before the LCDM hypothesis, scientists have found that dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way lack a tight, powerful 'center,' and instead possess a wider 'core.'

The findings are complex and not all experts seem to agree with the research, claiming that they will remain skeptical of the results until more definitive evidence presents itself.

“Everyone was saying, ‘Okay, but now you need better data to fully convince us,’” said Mancera Piña.

“It would be awesome if these strange objects ultimately give us information on the nature of dark matter,” Yale University astronomer Pieter van Dokkum added.

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