Astronomers spot possible massive starless galaxy, AGC 322753
Researchers at Swinburne University of Technology identified an object called AGC 322753 containing roughly 2 billion solar masses of hydrogen gas but showing no visible stars. The finding, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, came from comparing radio survey data from the Arecibo Observatory and China's Five-Hundred-Meter Aperture Spherical Telescope.
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If confirmed, this would be an unusually large example of a 'dark galaxy'—one holding gas and dark matter but failing to form stars—which could help scientists test the Lambda-CDM model of galaxy formation. The discovery may offer clues into why some dark matter haloes produce star-forming galaxies while others remain largely dark, though researchers caution the object is likely not entirely starless.
- AGC 322753 contains about 2 billion solar masses of hydrogen gas with little evidence of stars.
- The discovery emerged from comparing Arecibo and FAST radio telescope survey data.
- Confirming such dark galaxies could test assumptions in the Lambda-CDM cosmological model.
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Published there as: “Scientists May Have Discovered a Massive Starless Galaxy”
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