Oyashio stream found beyond Milky Way in UGC 9050-Dw1
A faint stream of stars, named Oyashio, has been spotted in the ultra-diffuse galaxy UGC 9050-Dw1, marking the first time such a discovery has happened beyond our own Milky Way.
Former astronomer David Hendel found it while checking out Hubble Space Telescope images, and the findings were published this August.
Stripped stars reveal dark matter window
Oyashio is made up of stars pulled from a star cluster by the galaxy's gravity, giving scientists a clear window to study dark matter, which is believed to make up most of UGC 9050-Dw1's mass.
With new telescopes on the way, researchers hope to spot more streams like this.
The team also highlighted how crucial public data archives are for discoveries, with astrophysicist Sarah Pearson sharing, "This is a great example of how important it is to have publicly available data."