Astronomers have discovered a new type of stellar system, featuring “ghostly” stars that are invisible to the naked eye. The discovery, published in the Astrophysical Journal, was made by a team from University College London (UCL).
The stars, known as “dark stars,” are much fainter than typical stars and are only visible through their gravitational influence on other objects. The team used data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gaia mission to identify the dark stars.
The discovery has significant implications for our understanding of the universe. It suggests that there may be many more stars out there than we previously thought, and that these stars could be playing a role in the formation of galaxies and planets.
The team also found that dark stars are more common in certain types of galaxies, such as dwarf galaxies. This suggests that dark stars may be a key ingredient in the formation of these galaxies.
The discovery of dark stars is a major breakthrough in astronomy. It opens up new avenues of research into the nature of stars and the evolution of the universe.