Astronomers discover never-before-seen celestial object: “Cloud 9”
A team of researchers has discovered a new type of astronomical object that could help experts learn more about the formation of galaxies and the development of the early universe.
NASA dubbed the object “Cloud-9” and described it as a “starless, gas-rich” cloud of hydrogen and a remnant of the first formation of the universe about 14 million light-years from Earth. Scientists have theorized about such an object, but this is the first time its existence has been confirmed, NASA said. These types of clouds are thought to be dark matter clouds that cannot accumulate enough gas to form stars, NASA said.
Cloud 9 was identified three years ago, but only recently Hubble Space Telescope could be used to confirm that there were no stars inside. Alejandro Benitez-Llambay, an assistant professor at Italy’s Milano-Bicocca University and principal investigator on the Hubble team, said Cloud-9 tells “the story of a bankrupt galaxy.”
“In science, we generally learn more from failures than from successes,” Benitez-Llambay said. “In this case, not seeing any stars is what supports the theory. This tells us that we have found in the local universe a fundamental element of a galaxy that did not form.”
Cloud-9, with the dotted photo showing the peak of the radio emission where astronomers were looking for the stars. / Credit: NASA, ESA, VLA, Gagandeep Anand (STScI), Alejandro Benitez-Llambay (University of Milan-Bicocca); Image processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
The core of Cloud-9 is made of neutral hydrogen. Its diameter is about 4,900 light years, NASA said. Hydrogen is estimated to be a million times the mass of the sun.
Cloud-9 also includes a huge amount of dark matter, worth about five billion solar masses, NASA said. Andrew Fox, a member of the team that studied the object, called it “a window into the dark universe.”
“We know theoretically that most of the mass in the universe should be dark matter, but it’s difficult to detect this dark matter because it doesn’t emit light,” Fox said. “Cloud-9 gives us a rare glimpse of a cloud dominated by dark matter.”
NASA said the cloud also “suggests the existence of many other small dark matter-dominated structures in the universe.” These types of objects can be difficult to study because nearby bright features, such as stars and galaxies, overshadow them. Researchers also typically focus their attention on these brighter structures, NASA said. Because these features are difficult to study, Cloud-9’s results help provide new information, NASA said.
Cloud-9 is the ninth gas cloud identified on the outskirts of the nearby spiral galaxy Messier 94, NASA said. Cloud-9 is smaller, more compact and highly spherical compared to other clouds. It also appears to have a “physical association” with Messier 94, NASA said.
Astronomers will conduct further studies of Cloud-9 to learn more about dark matter, failed galaxies and the early universe itself, NASA said. They will also search for other similar items.
“Among our galactic neighbors there might be a few abandoned houses,” said researcher Rachael Beaton of the Space Telescope Science Institute.
Cloud-9 could continue to change and could even become a galaxy if it continues to expand, NASA said.
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