---
title: "This Ancient Galaxy Was Loaded With Dark Matter"
description: "Research suggests that the ancient galaxy DSFG850.95 was packed with dark matter, running counter to conventional wisdom."
date: "2018-12-12"
modified: "2018-12-12"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/dark-matter-ancient-galaxy"
categories:
  - "Astrophysics"
  - "Dark Matter"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "dark matter"
  - "dsfg850.95"
  - "mcdonald observatory"
---

# This Ancient Galaxy Was Loaded With Dark Matter

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/ancient-galaxy-dark-matter.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: \<a href="https://science.nasa.gov/dark-matter-simulated-universe" target="\_blank"\>Tom Abel & Ralf Kaehler (KIPAC, SLAC), AMNH\</a\>\</em\>*

## Dark Matter

Conventional wisdom among astrophysicists [dictates that](<https://www.nature.com/articles/543318a>) galaxies don't start out with much dark matter, the unseen material that seems to make up most of the mass in the universe. Instead, they speculate, galaxies pick up dark matter over time through some unknown process.

But [new observations](<https://mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/releases/20181212>) from the McDonald Observatory in Texas have found a striking counterexample: an ancient galaxy loaded with dark matter.

## Ancient Galaxy

The research, [published Wednesday](<http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aaedbf/meta>) in *The Astrophysical Journal*, describes DSFG850.95, a galaxy 9 billion light-years away. That means the light that reaches Earth from this galaxy is 9 billion years old — providing a peek into the universe's distant past.

But unlike other ancient galaxies, DSFG850.95 is chock-full of dark matter, according to the McDonald observations.

That contrasts with the dominant theory, which is that old galaxies are "fundamentally different to galaxies in the present-day universe," Caitlin Casey, one of the researchers behind the new findings, said in a [news release](<https://mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/releases/20181212>). "The galaxy we found is a clear counter-example of that, where it seems to have dark matter behaving in the normal way, as it does in the present-day universe."

**READ MORE:** [Texas Astronomers Find that Dark Matter Dominates Across Cosmic Time](<https://mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/releases/20181212>) \[*McDonald Observatory*\]

***More on dark matter:*** [Two Nearly-Identical Dark Matter Studies Have Conflicting Results](<https://futurism.com/dark-matter-conflicting-results>)

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)