Hubble telescope discovers a new type of cosmic object and astronomers are on 'Cloud 9'
Space••general
Key Points:
- Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have discovered "Cloud 9," a dark matter and gas cloud with no stars, located about 14 million light-years from Earth near the galaxy Messier 94.
- Cloud 9 is a Reionization-Limited Hydrogen I Cloud (RELHIC), representing a failed galaxy where star formation did not occur due to insufficient gas accumulation, offering a rare glimpse into dark matter-dominated structures.
- This discovery supports theories that dark matter, which makes up about 85% of the universe's mass, plays a crucial role in galaxy formation, and Cloud 9 serves as a primordial building block of galaxies.
- The cloud's core consists of neutral hydrogen about 4,900
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