Astronomers identify dark galaxy candidate with massive hydrogen reservoir
Researchers using FAST and Arecibo telescopes have identified a possible dark galaxy named AGC 322753 located 310 million light-years away.
Huge gas supply without stars
The object contains roughly two billion times the sun's mass in neutral hydrogen. Deep images show no matching glow despite this enormous fuel supply. Its radio signal indicates the gas might be rotating in a disk.
Cross-checking telescope data
Scientists compared results from China's FAST telescope with detections from the decommissioned Arecibo instrument. They found 13 sources that matched between the two different catalogs. Further checks ruled out nearby galaxies and possible visible counterparts for this specific object.
Published research findings
Marco Monaci and colleagues at Swinburne University of Technology describe the discovery in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The team notes that such a system has very few stars or perhaps none at all.
Reported by one outlet
Only one outlet has published this. Nothing here has been checked against a second report, so read it as that outlet's account and follow the link below for the original.
Reported by
1 independent outlet. Headline as published. Links open the original report.