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Space
Space
Science
Samantha Mathewson

The Milky Way's faintest satellite may not be what astronomers thought. 'These results solve a major mystery in astrophysics'

Ursa Major III, a faint star cluster over 30,000 light-years away, may be bound by hidden black holes instead of dark matter.

A ghostly object orbiting the Milky Way has left astronomers questioning its composition: Is it a dark-matter-dominated dwarf galaxy or a star cluster bound by a hidden swarm of black holes?

Ursa Major III/Unions 1 (UMa3/U1), the faintest known satellite of our galaxy, orbits the Milky Way at a distance of more than 30,000 light-years. It is a compact stellar system that contains only 60 visible stars.

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