How to Bake a Galaxy

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The Tadpole galaxy foreground is much closer to Earth than the dusty distant galaxies called ultraluminous infrared galaxies (faint red dots). These kinds of galaxies form out of clumps of dark matter that are about as massive as 10 trillion suns. Im ...
The Tadpole galaxy, foreground, is much closer to Earth than the dusty, distant galaxies called ultraluminous infrared galaxies (faint red dots). These kinds of galaxies form out of clumps of dark matter that are about as massive as 10 trillion suns. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Start with lots and lots of dark matter, then stir in gas. Let the mixture sit for a while, and a galaxy should rise up out of the batter. This simple recipe for baking galaxies cannot be performed at home, but it does reflect what astronomers are learning about galaxy formation. Like baking bread with yeast, a mysterious substance in the universe called dark matter is required for a galaxy to grow.


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