SoylentNews

An Anonymous Coward writes:

From New Atlas:

Some of the strongest evidence for dark matter to date has been discovered – and ironically, that's thanks to its absence. In a pair of studies published this week, astronomers have shed new light on dark matter through close observation of a galaxy previously found to have very little of the stuff, while the same team found a new example of a similar oddball galaxy.

It's generally believed that galaxies are held together through the gravitational influence of clumps of dark matter, so to find a galaxy with little to no dark matter was a surprise. And while it might sound like a strike against the theory, it actually ends up supporting it.

A Second Galaxy Missing Dark Matter in the NGC 1052 Group (DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ab0d92) (DX)

Still Missing Dark Matter: KCWI High-resolution Stellar Kinematics of NGC1052-DF2 (DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ab0e8c) (DX)

Original Submission