What can galaxies smaller than our Milky Way Galaxy teach scientists about dark matter, which remains one of the most mysterious substances in the universe? This is what a recent study published in The Astrophysical Journal hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated satellite galaxies that orbit much larger galaxies. This study holds the potential to help researchers better understand the formation and evolution of satellite galaxies and how dark matter might play a role in this process.
For the study, the researchers used the satellite galaxy survey called Identifying Dwarfs of MC Analog GalaxiEs (ID-MAGE) to locate 355 candidate satellite galaxies, of which 264 are new candidates, and 134 of the 355 are hypothesized to have a high probability of being satellite galaxies. The term satellite galaxy refers to smaller galaxies that orbit larger galaxies due to the latter’s gravitational pull, which researchers have hypothesized that dark matter plays a role in this interaction.
"Studying these systems can help us piece together conditions in the early universe," said Dr. Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil, who is an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College and a co-author on the study. "This project fills a critical gap, offering fresh insights into the process of how galaxies form and its connection to dark matter. Our goal is to build a statistical sample of the smallest galaxies in the universe, as they are the most dominated by dark matter and serve as clean laboratories for understanding its nature."
As noted, dark matter is one of the most mysterious substances in the universe, as it’s invisible to telescopes but is hypothesized to comprise approximately 85 percent of the universe. Most significantly, it is hypothesized to be the invisible “glue” that holds the universe together. In this case, satellite galaxies that orbit larger galaxies.
What new discoveries about dark matter and satellite galaxies will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: The Astrophysical Journal, EurekAlert!
