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LiveScience
LiveScience
Harry Baker

'We do not understand how it can exist': Astronomers baffled by 'almost invisible' dwarf galaxy that upends a dark matter theory

A composite image of lots of stars.

Scientists have discovered an "almost invisible" dwarf galaxy that cannot be explained by our current understanding of the cosmos. The mysteriously faint object, which has evaded detection for years, is so dim that researchers haven't even been able to pin down exactly where it is.

The newfound galaxy, named Nube (or "cloud" in Spanish), was described in a study published Jan. 9 in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Nube is extremely diffuse, which means that its stars are very spread out and, as a result, the galaxy emits barely any light. It is around 10 times fainter than most other known dwarf galaxies and is more than 10 times wider than it should be considering the number of stars it has. 

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