Only approximately 1000 stars are present in the entirety of dwarf galaxies Segue 1 and Segue 3, which has a gravitational mass of 600,000 Suns. The stars making up the dwarf satellite Segue 1 are circled here. If new research is correct, then dark matter will obey a different distribution depending on how star formation, over the galaxy’s history, has heated it. (MARLA GEHA AND KECK OBSERVATORIES)

Modified Gravity Could Soon Be Ruled Out, Says New Research On Dwarf Galaxies

Dark matter is our leading theory for a reason. New, detailed studies of the smallest galaxies could kill off the most studied alternative.

When you look out at the Universe, there are a few things you’d rationally expect. You’d expect that the same things that made up everything we saw — like atoms and light — made up everything there was. You’d expect that the fundamental laws would apply equally well everywhere you looked, from small scales to large scales. And you’d expect that if you had multiple ways of measuring the same physical quantity, they’d give you the same answer.

Which is why the dark matter problem is such a puzzle. There are a huge variety of measurements we can make that indicate that about 5/6ths of the Universe, by mass, isn’t made up of any of the known particles. It doesn’t interact with normal matter or light. And if you measure the mass of a galaxy directly, from its light, it doesn’t match the mass you infer from gravity.

According to models and simulations, all galaxies should be embedded in dark matter halos, whose densities peak at the galactic centers. On long enough timescales, of perhaps a billion years, a single dark matter particle from the outskirts of the halo will complete one orbit. The effects of gas, feedback, star formation, supernovae, and radiation all complicate this environment, making it extremely difficult to extract universal dark matter predictions. (NASA, ESA, AND T. BROWN AND J. TUMLINSON (STSCI))