Incredible: secrets of galaxy formation may be revealed by a new discovery

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists have discovered a unique, previously unknown object in space: a cloud of gas which, despite having all the necessary conditions, never became a galaxy. The formation, named Cloud-9, could help researchers understand how galaxies are born and shed new light on how the universe took shape in its earliest stages.

Since the dawn of humanity, people have tried to understand how the universe came into existence. With the help of modern telescopes, researchers can now observe objects originating from the earliest periods of the cosmos. These discoveries may help uncover the secrets of galaxy formation and explain how the cosmic environment we live in today developed. However, there are also celestial bodies which, although they carry crucial information, remain mysterious in origin.

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The uniqueness of Cloud-9

Hubble’s latest discovery, the cloud known as Cloud-9, has proven to be particularly fascinating. This Reionization-Limited H I Cloud (RELHIC) is a dark-matter-dominated object whose mass should have been sufficient to form a galaxy – yet not a single star has formed within it. According to a study, Cloud-9 could open a crucial window into understanding galaxy formation, while Einstein’s theory of relativity may also gain new relevance in the context of dark matter research.

Galaxy formation is not a simple process. The birth of stars depends on the presence of sufficient hydrogen and other gases, while gravity and the distribution of dark matter also play critical roles. In the case of Cloud-9 – a neutral hydrogen cloud stretching about 4,900 light-years across – the mass of the gas alone is roughly equivalent to one million Suns. However, due to the presence of dark matter and gravitational effects, its total mass could be comparable to five billion Suns.

What does all this reveal about galaxy formation?

The object was first discovered by China’s FAST telescope, with signals later confirmed by the Green Bank and Very Large Array telescopes. Finally, the Hubble Space Telescope verified that the cloud truly contains no stars. Although Einstein’s theory of relativity states that mass and gravity are linked, Cloud-9 proves that gravitational influence alone does not always lead to star formation. This gives scientists the opportunity to model which factors affect the birth of galaxies and why not every cloud becomes a galaxy.

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Why is studying galaxy formation important?

The study of Cloud-9 highlights that many objects never become visible galaxies, even when enough material is available. These starless clouds therefore serve as ancient traces, revealing the earliest stages of galaxy formation, when the universe was still young.

The discovery is particularly exciting in terms of future telescopes. With the help of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and other sensitive instruments, scientists may find more of these hidden clouds and reconstruct the history of galaxy formation more accurately.

The case of Cloud-9 is also valuable because it shows that galaxy formation is not an automatic process. The object allows scientists to examine the interaction between dark matter and hydrogen, and to test the practical application of Einstein’s theory regarding the relationship between gravity and mass. Through this cloud, astronomers can study what happens when galaxy formation fails and why certain conditions are necessary for it to succeed.