Astronomen entdecken eine massive molekulare Wolke, die auf milchige Weise verborgen ist. Die riesige Molekülwolke (GMC) beträgt ungefähr 60 Parsecs – oder 200 Lichtjahre -.

Y’all gonna learn today what a looong Molecular Cloud look like

Discoveries like this are fascinating to me. Seeing the mass attributed to „Dark Matter“ being slowly moved into the normal matter pile without need of any new particles or adjustment to special reflectivity or mond.

I doubt the mass of this cloud comes remotely close to accounting for the total amount of Dark Matter in the milky-way. Maybe the mass of this cloud doesn’t even move the needle on the scale. Just the same, we keep pointing our telescopes and instruments into dark empty areas expecting to find nothing, that are supposed to contain nothing, but find the opposite.

New particles or physics are certainly exciting and sexy, but if over the years we eventually explained or nickled and dimed away all dark matter with discoveries like this I’d be just as satisfied and proud of the scientists doing the work.