{"id":270964,"date":"2024-01-14T03:31:21","date_gmt":"2024-01-14T08:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/es\/?p=324659"},"modified":"2025-07-01T17:13:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T00:13:48","slug":"nasa-cant-believe-it-a-galaxy-without-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/nasa-cant-believe-it-a-galaxy-without-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA can&#8217;t believe it: a galaxy without stars."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The unsettling empty object, called J0613+52, is located 270 million light-years away and, at the very least, appears to be a low surface brightness galaxy (LSB). <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/did-you-know-that-galaxies-are-more-ecofriendly-than-you\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">By the way, did you know that galaxies are more eco-friendly than you?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"NASA App\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_app-icon-s\/p\/2cddcc48-a4d6-11e6-88af-00163ec9f5fa\/3678680588\/nasa-app-logo\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">NASA App<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/nasa-app.en.softonic.com\/android\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DOWNLOAD<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--0\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"0\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\"><\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/nasa-app.en.softonic.com\/android\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As its name suggests, <strong>a LSB is much less bright than other bright objects that populate the night sky<\/strong> because the gases it contains are so scattered that few stars are formed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This discovery could provide a rare, possibly never-before-seen insight that <strong>challenges our understanding of how stars and galaxies form.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">Hallan una galaxia sin estrellas que desconcierta a expertos<br><br>Astr\u00f3nomos han descubierto J0613+52, una galaxia oscura sin estrellas, desafiando nuestra comprensi\u00f3n de las galaxias y ampliando los horizontes de la astronom\u00eda. (ies)<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/chtSYHWrK3\">https:\/\/t.co\/chtSYHWrK3<\/a><\/p>&mdash; DW Espa\u00f1ol (@dw_espanol) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dw_espanol\/status\/1745921486756442158?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 12, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A puzzling discovery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>However, this classification maintains that a galaxy of this type would have at least some stars<\/strong>, and J0613+52, with apparently none, could be something even rarer and elusive: a dark and primordial galaxy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;This could be our first discovery of a nearby galaxy formed by primordial gas,&#8221; says Karen O&#8217;Neil, a scientist at the Green Bank Observatory, in a statement about the research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>O&#8217;Neil and his team stumbled upon the object thanks to a fortuitous error made while studying the LSBs<\/strong>. Basically, they realized that there was a discrepancy in the data between two telescopes they were using, which led them to double-check where they were looking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Telescope Error Leads to a Discovery of a Mindblowing Galaxy J0613+52\" width=\"840\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HeMlpsypaes?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The [Green Bank Telescope] was accidentally pointing to the wrong coordinates and found this object,&#8221; said O&#8217;Neil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>They not only discovered that the galaxy lacked stars despite being rich in gas<\/strong> &#8211; they believe it contains between one and two billion solar masses of hydrogen &#8211; <strong>but it was also extremely isolated.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;It is too far away from other galaxies for them to contribute to triggering star formation through any encounter,&#8221; explained O&#8217;Neil. &#8220;J0613+52 appears to be undisturbed and underdeveloped.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That last part, the &#8220;unaltered and underdeveloped&#8221; one, is key. <strong>It suggests that, throughout the billions of years of its existence, the &#8220;dark&#8221; galaxy has remained stable to an unprecedented degree<\/strong>, without significant gravitational interactions that would cause the clustering of gas to form stars, and without nearby galaxies interfering with its almost perfect balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In other words, it is an incredibly well-preserved relic from the early years of the cosmos, <strong>so perfect that it almost defies comprehension.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"NASA App\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_app-icon-s\/p\/2cddcc48-a4d6-11e6-88af-00163ec9f5fa\/3678680588\/nasa-app-logo\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">NASA App<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/nasa-app.en.softonic.com\/android\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DOWNLOAD<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--0\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"0\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\"><\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/nasa-app.en.softonic.com\/android\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Future observations will have to confirm these findings<\/strong>. As Big Think points out, astronomers will be looking for heavy metals that indicate the presence of stars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If none is found, it will be strong evidence in favor of <strong>J0613+52 being the dark galaxy that has eluded detection for so long.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Astronomers have accidentally discovered an entire galaxy that appears to have a lot of gas but no visible stars. How is that possible?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9265,"featured_media":236374,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":1},"categories":[1015],"tags":[4289,3849],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-270964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-app-subdomain-redirectionnasa-app","tag-espacio"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":315243,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270964\/revisions\/315243"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270964"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=270964"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=270964"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=270964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}