Missing Mass of the Universe Found?

New research indicates that the long-searched for missing or “dark mass” of the universe might be in dwarf galaxies left over from collisions of large galaxies.

twopanel.jpgNew research indicates that the long-searched for missing or “dark mass” of the universe might be in dwarf galaxies left over from collisions of large galaxies. If the research pans out this is big news in Science.

More at Physorg.com:

The scientists used the National Science Foundation’s Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope to study a galaxy called NGC 5291, 200 million light-years from Earth. This galaxy collided with another 360 million years ago, and the collision shot streams of gas and stars outward. Later, the dwarf galaxies formed from the ejected debris.
“Our detailed studies of three ‘recycled’ dwarf galaxies in this system showed that the dwarfs have twice as much unseen matter as visible matter. This was surprising, because they were expected to have very little unseen matter,” said Frederic Bournaud, of the French astrophysics laboratory AIM of the French CEA and CNRS. Bournaud and his colleagues announced their discovery in the May 10 online issue of the journal Science.
“Dark matter,” which astronomers can detect only by its gravitational effects, comes, they believe, in two basic forms. One form is the familiar kind of matter seen in stars, planets, and humans — called baryonic matter — that does not emit much light or other type of radiation. The other form, called non-baryonic dark matter, comprises nearly a third of the Universe but its nature is unknown.