Shredded dwarf galaxies may lack dark matter to hold them together

Many dwarf galaxies torn up by the gravity of nearby objects may not have any dark matter, which doesn’t line up with our understanding of the universe – but they may be explained by a controversial alternate model of gravity

By Leah Crane

A nearby galaxy cluster called the Fornax Cluster is ripping apart its dwarf galaxies. They appear to be tearing up far more easily than we would expect, suggesting that they may not contain any dark matter. That may mean there is something fundamentally wrong with our understanding of the universe.

In the standard model of cosmology, called lambda-CDM, most galaxies should contain a healthy dollop of dark matter. The gravity of this invisible substance helps hold a galaxy …