Scientists finally found 2 of the Milky Way's missing satellite galaxies. What could this mean for astronomy?

A black background with glowing white blue and yellow orbs scattered across it, some within a yellow dotted circle.

Astronomers have discovered two new satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, and these findings could help us better understand dark matter — the mysterious stuff that accounts for around 85% of the matter in the universe yet remains effectively invisible to us.

The discoveries also move scientists a step closer to solving a lingering problem with the standard model of cosmology, or the "lambda cold matter model," also known as "ΛCDM," in which the word "cold" assumes dark matter is composed of particles moving slower than the speed of light.