![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Dark-matter-less-galaxy.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIt\u2019s a constant of the universe. Dark matter \u2013 a key ingredient for the formation and evolution of galaxies is present in whatever galaxy is observed.<\/p>\n
That is until NGC 1052-DF2 was discovered \u2013 a galaxy missing most of its dark matter. A year later, galaxy NGC 1052-DF4 was discovered 45 million light years from Earth\u2026 and it too was missing most of its dark matter.<\/p>\n
But how is this possible? <\/p>\n
Dark matter accounts for approximately 85% of the matter of the universe and 25% of its overall mass-energy density. As it does not interact in an observable way with electromagnetic fields and does not appear to interact in any way with electromagnetic radiation, it cannot be easily detected. Thus its name: \u201cdark\u201d matter.<\/p>\n
Evidence of its existence, however, comes from observed galaxies and the laws of gravity that show that galaxies would fly apart given their observable masses, not move the way they do, and never have formed at all unless an unseen form of matter (dark matter) was present in significant quantities as well.<\/p>\n
Other indirect evidence for dark matter include gravitational lensing and cosmic microwave background observations, the universe\u2019s observed structure, and mass location during galactic collisions.<\/p>\n
As with most aspects in science lacking direct observation, alternative theories exist to explain why the galaxies form and move and interact as they do.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This composite, created from images forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2, shows the sky around NGC 1052-DF4.
(Credits: ESA\/Hubble, NASA, Digitized Sky Survey 2; Acknowledgment: Davide de Martin)<\/p>\n
However, an investigation into how galaxy NGC 1052-DF4 came to be missing most of its dark matter has revealed strong evidence for the underlying mechanism.<\/p>\n
Astronomy (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n Using the NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope\u2019s deep and high resolution optical imaging capabilities, the team was able to observe tidal disruptions from a neighboring, more massive galaxy: NGC 1035.<\/p>\n According to Dr. Mireia Montes, University of New South Wales, Australia, who led the international team that made the discoveries, \u201cWe used Hubble in two ways to discover that NGC 1052-DF4 is experiencing [a galactic] interaction. This includes studying the galaxy\u2019s light and the galaxy\u2019s distribution of globular clusters.\u201d<\/p>\n Globular clusters \u2014 spherical groups of stars outside a galaxy that orbit the parent galaxy\u2019s core \u2014 are believed to form during periods of intense star formation in the parent galaxy. They are compact in size and highly luminous and serve as property tracers for their host galaxy.<\/p>\n In simpler terms, globular clusters are smaller versions of their host galaxy\u2019s properties and therefore serve as easily observable stand-ins for what is happening inside the larger galaxy.<\/p>\n Hubble\u2019s optical data was supplemented by observations made with the 10.4 meter Gran Telescoppio Canarias (GTC) and the IAC80 telescopes in the Canary Islands, Spain.<\/p>\n Ra\u00fal Infante-Sainz of the Instituto de Astrof\u00edsica de Canarias in Spain added that it was \u201cimportant that we use not just one telescope\/instrument, but several (both ground- and space-based) to conduct this research. With the high resolution of Hubble, we can identify the globular clusters, and then with GTC photometry we obtain the physical properties.\u201d<\/p>\n Galaxy NGC 1052-DF4 (center of the image) and its neighbor, NGC 1035 (center left). (Credit: M. Montes et al.)<\/p>\n Using the combined observations, the team saw that NGC 1052-DF4\u2019s globular clusters were being pulled away from it by the more-massive NGC 1053 galaxy. Additional observations showed tidal tails of material moving away from NGC 1052-DF4.<\/p>\n This all points to tidal disruption \u201cstripping\u201d away the dark matter first, as it would be the easiest matter to remove\u2026 which precipitated the now-seen gradual unraveling, \u201cstripping,\u201d of the remaining matter in NGC 1052-DF4.<\/p>\n Current estimates show 7% of the galaxy\u2019s stellar mass is located within these fleeing tidal tails and that the galaxy\u2019s core has not yet felt the unravelling process begin. <\/p>\n \u201cIn time, NGC 1052-DF4 will be cannibalized by the large system around NGC 1035, with at least some of their stars floating free in deep space,\u201d said Ignacio Trujillo of the Instituto de Astrof\u00edsica de Canarias. \u201cThis result is a good indicator that, while the dark matter of the galaxy was evaporated from the system, the stars are only now starting to suffer the disruption mechanism.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Mireia Montes added, \u201cThis discovery reconciles existing knowledge of how galaxies form and evolve with the most favorable cosmological model.\u201d<\/p>\n Staying on the galactic scale, Hubble observations have also revealed unprecedented detail of black holes\u2026 specifically the shadows they can cast.<\/p>\n Shadows and black holes might seem at odds given the nature of black holes, yet that is exactly what artists and amateur astronomer Judy Schmidt of California discovered while reprocessing images from the public Hubble archive.<\/p>\n This Hubble image of the core of active galaxy IC 5063 reveals a mixture of bright rays and dark shadows reaching across 36,000 light years. (Credit: NASA, ESA, and W.P. Maksym (CfA))<\/p>\n The shadowy fingers reaching out 36,000 light years from the center of galaxy IC 5063 were not visible in the original exposures.<\/p>\n (For context, the solar system orbits between 25,000 and 27,000 light years from the center of the Milky Way. Or, for Star Trek fans, 36,000 light years is roughly half the distance the starship Voyager<\/i> had to travel while returning from the Delta Quadrant.)<\/p>\n But as Judy began to change the contrast of the image, looking for artistic inspiration, the reach of the black hole became evident. \u201cI had no idea they were there, and even after I\u2019d processed it, I kept blinking my eyes wondering if I was seeing what I thought I was seeing,\u201d Judy related.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was something I\u2019d never seen before, and even though I had strong suspicions about them being shadow rays or \u2018crepuscular rays,\u2019 as Peter has dubbed them, it\u2019s easy to let one\u2019s imagination and wishful thinking run wild,\u201d she explained. \u201cI figured if I was wrong, someone would come to ground me.\u201d<\/p>\n She posted the image to twitter, where one of her followers, Dr. Peter Maksym (the \u201cPeter\u201d referenced in the previous paragraph) of the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA), in Cambridge, Massachusetts, saw it and took interest.<\/p>\n Peter had already been analyzing Hubble images of the powerful jets of light from superheated gas produced by this very galaxy\u2019s black hole. Peter engaged with the post and debate surrounding the \u201ccrepuscular rays\u201d and took the lead on investigating further.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/galaxy-from-IAC80.jpg\")
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