Space oddity! Massive Galaxy NGC 1277 has no dark matter

The discovery of this new galaxy without dark matter puts under question all the galactic evolution theories.

NGC 1277 is the first Milky Way-sized galaxy known that lacks dark matter. (Representative image) (pixabay)

Scientists have recently made a remarkable discovery about Galaxy NGC 1277, which is located within the Perseus Cluster some 240 million light-years away from us. A group of scientists, led by researcher Sebastien Comeron from IAC and the University of La Laguna (ULL), discovered something fascinating about the Galaxy NGC 1277. Unlike most big galaxies, which have an invisible substance called dark matter, NGC 1277 seems to be an exception as it has none! It's the first time such a massive galaxy, much bigger than our Milky Way, has been found without any signs of dark matter.Unlike other galaxies of its size, it appears to be devoid of dark matter, which normally constitutes around 85% of the matter in the universe. This finding makes NGC 1277 the first Milky Way-sized galaxy known to lack the presence of dark matter, which is typically an essential component in galaxies comprising stars, planets, dust, and gas.

Dark Matter

Dark matter is like a hidden, invisible substance because it doesn't behave like the regular matter we see around us, which interacts with light. The only way to know it is there is through its gravitational effects. Astronomers noticed that some big galaxies spin really fast, and if there wasn't some invisible mass holding them together, they would break apart. That's how they figured out there must be this mysterious dark matter out there. The scientist concluded that all large galaxies are surrounded by dark matter. This assumption has become an important part of developing theories of galactic evolution.

However, now, this discovery of a galaxy without dark matter questions the validity of all these theories.

NGC 1277 Galaxy- how is it different from other galaxies?

NGC 1277 is a special galaxy that scientists find very interesting. Unlike most other galaxies, it hasn't had much contact or interaction with other nearby galaxies. They call it a cosmic relic because it's like a leftover from huge galaxies that existed long, long ago in the early universe. These relic galaxies are crucial for astronomers because they help them learn more about how the first galaxies in the universe were born.

The lead scientist behind the discovery of NGC 1277 and a researcher in University of La Laguna Cameron said, “This result does not fit in with the currently accepted cosmological models, which include dark matter."

To help with their research, Comeron and other scientists studied the galaxy NGC 1277 using a special tool called an integral field spectrograph. This tool lets them create a map of how the galaxy moves and find out how much mass it has and how that mass is spread out.