How much dark matter is in the Milky Way? Maybe less than we thought, China-led study finds
- Researchers say their study of halo stars suggests the galaxy might not have as much mass as previously thought
- Understanding mass means understanding a galaxy’s matter, energy composition and dynamics
Researchers from China and Australia concluded that the Milky Way weighs about 550 billion times the mass of the sun, or half of the average amount calculated by other teams, according to a paper in the peer-reviewed journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society earlier this month.
US scientist Sarah Bird, the study’s lead author from the China Three Gorges University in Yichang, said the result suggested the galaxy might be slimmer than thought.
It also indicated that there could be much less of the invisible but gravitationally bound dark matter in the Milky Way than originally estimated, she said.
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Nasa offers deepest-ever look in space, the farthest humanity has ever seen in time and distance
The Milky Way resembles a spinning pinwheel, with a bulge at the centre and a radiating spiral disk of gas, dust and hundreds of billions of stars. Our solar system lies about halfway from the galactic centre to the visible edge.
