Galaxy that never formed is identified as a starless dark-matter cloud.

Astronomers report that Cloud 9, a nearby gas cloud about 14 million light-years away, contains neutral hydrogen but shows no detectable stars; follow-up Hubble imaging supports its identification as a Reionization-Limited H I Cloud (RELHIC). The finding aligns with a Lambda-CDM prediction that some dark-matter haloes can remain starless.

Researchers report the identification of Cloud 9, a nearby gas cloud that contains neutral hydrogen but shows no detectable stars. It lies about 14 million light-years from Earth near the spiral galaxy Messier 94. The team describes Cloud 9 as a Reionization-Limited H I Cloud, or RELHIC, a predicted type of starless dark-matter halo that dates back to the Epoch of Reionization. The object was first flagged in a survey by China's FAST telescope and then imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys, which did not detect a luminous stellar counterpart. Key facts: - Cloud 9 is identified as a RELHIC, meaning it is a gas-filled, starless halo limited by reionization. - The cloud contains roughly one million solar masses of neutral hydrogen, according to the report. - Cloud 9 was first detected in a FAST survey; radio imaging from the Very Large Array marks the cloud's position and peak emission. - Deep Hubble/ACS imaging failed to find stars at the cloud's location, which supports the interpretation that it is not a faint dwarf galaxy. - The cloud appears physically associated with the nearby spiral galaxy Messier 94. - The discovery is presented in The Astrophysical Journal Letters by Anand et al., with Gagandeep Anand as lead author. Summary: The observation of Cloud 9 provides empirical support for a Lambda-Cold Dark Matter prediction that some dark-matter haloes can remain gas-filled and starless. Undetermined at this time.