Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Jan 13, 2006 11:22:49 GMT -6
Dark Matter Galaxy
(Thu, 12 Jan 2006) Astronomers think they might have found a "dark galaxy", that has no stars and emits no light. Although the galaxy itself, located 50 million light years from Earth, is practically invisible, it contains a small amount of neutral hydrogen which emits radio waves. If astronomers are correct, this galaxy contains ten billion times the mass of Sun, but only 1% of this is hydrogen - the rest is dark matter.
New evidence that VIRGOHI 21, a mysterious cloud of hydrogen in the Virgo Cluster 50 million light-years from the Earth, is a Dark Galaxy, emitting no star light, was presented today at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington, D. C.
The new observations, made with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope in the Netherlands, show that the hydrogen gas in VIRGOHI 21 appears to be rotating, implying a dark galaxy with over ten billion times the mass of the Sun. Only one percent of this mass has been detected as neutral hydrogen - the rest appears to be dark matter.
More here: www.universetoday.com/am/publish/pparc_darkmatter_virgohi.html?1212006
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Well, now new definitions have to be created in what is to be considered a Galaxy. Is this new one a galaxy? TBA
