Galaxy X (galaxy)

Galaxy X[1][2] is a postulated dark satellite dwarf galaxy of the Milky Way Galaxy. If it exists, it would be composed mostly of dark matter and interstellar gas with few stars.[1][3] Its proposed location is some 90 kpc (290 kly) from the Sun,[1][3][4] behind the disk of the Milky Way,[1] and some 12 kpc (39 kly) in extent.[4] Galactic coordinates would be (l= -27.4°,b=-1.08°).[4]

Discovery

Observational evidence for this galaxy was presented in 2015,[5] based on the claimed discovery of four Cepheid variable stars by Sukanya Chakrabarti (RIT) and collaborators.[4] Search for the stars was motivated by an earlier study [6] that linked a warp in the HI (atomic hydrogen) disk of the Milky Way Galaxy to the tidal effects of a perturbing galaxy.[3][7] The unseen perturber's mass was calculated to be about 1%[NB 1] of that of the Milky Way,[8] which would make it the third heaviest satellite of the Milky Way, after the Magellanic Clouds (Large Magellanic Cloud and Small Magellanic Cloud, each some 10x larger than Galaxy X).[1] In this hypothetical model, the putative satellite galaxy would have interacted with the Milky Way some 600 million years ago, coming as close as 5–10 kpc (16–33 kly), and would now be moving away from the Milky Way.[4][7][8]

Name

The name "Galaxy X" was coined in 2011 in analogy to Planet X.[2] [9]

Controversy

In November 2015, a group led by P. Pietrukowicz published a paper arguing against the existence of Galaxy X. These authors argued that the four stars were not actually Cepheid variable stars and that their distances might be very different than claimed in the discovery paper of Chakrabarti et al. On this basis, the authors stated that "there is no evidence for a background dwarf galaxy".[10] However the galaxy is still regarded to exist by others, with the stars being examined to be actual Cepheids.[11]

List of components

List of claimed components of Galaxy X

Component Type Notes
VVV J162559.36-522234.0 Cepheid variable about 100 million years old [4]
VVV J162328.18-513230.4 Cepheid about 100 million years old [4]
VVV J162119.39-520233.3 Cepheid about 100 million years old [4]
VVV J161542.47-494439.0 Cepheid about 100 million years old [4]

Footnotes
  1. approximately 10 billion solar masses

References
  1. Richard A. Lovett (14 January 2011). "Dark-Matter Galaxy Detected: Hidden Dwarf Lurks Nearby?". National Geographic.
  2. Clay Dillow (13 January 2011). "'Galaxy X,' an Invisible Satellite Made of Dark Matter, Could be Lurking at the Milky Way's Edge". Popular Science.
  3. "Lifting the veil on a dark galaxy". Science Daily. 6 February 2015.
  4. Sukanya Chakrabarti; Roberto Saito; Alice Quillen; Felipe Gran; Christopher Klein; Leo Blitz (February 2015). "Clustered Cepheid Variables 90 kiloparsec from the Galactic Center". Astrophysical Journal Letters. 1502 (1): 1358. arXiv:1502.01358. Bibcode:2015ApJ...802L...4C. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/802/1/L4. S2CID 118541335.
  5. Alan Boyle (6 February 2015). "Dark Matter Hunters Suspect They've Found 'Galaxy X'". NBC News.
  6. "Mysterious Galaxy X Found Finally? Dark Matter Hunters Would Like To Believe So". Tech Times. 8 February 2015.
  7. Sukanya Chakrabarti; Leo Blitz (August 2009). "Tidal Imprints Of A Dark Sub-Halo On The Outskirts Of The Milky Way". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters (published October 2009). 399 (1): L118–L122. arXiv:0908.0334. Bibcode:2009MNRAS.399L.118C. doi:10.1111/j.1745-3933.2009.00735.x.
  8. Sukanya Chakrabarti; Leo Blitz (April 2011) [July 2010]. "Tidal Imprints of a Dark Sub-Halo on the Outskirts of the Milky Way II. Perturber Azimuth". The Astrophysical Journal. 731 (1): 9. arXiv:1007.1982. Bibcode:2011ApJ...731...40C. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/731/1/40. S2CID 14325771. 40.
  9. Alan Boyle (13 January 2011). "Astronomers search for 'Galaxy X'". Cosmic Log. NBC News.
  10. P. Pietrukowicz; et al. (9 November 2015). "No Evidence for Classical Cepheids and a New Dwarf Galaxy Behind the Galactic Disk". The Astrophysical Journal. 813 (2): L40. arXiv:1510.08457. Bibcode:2015ApJ...813L..40P. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/813/2/l40. S2CID 118318255.
  11. SciShow Space (5 July 2016). "The Dark Mystery of Galaxy X".

Further reading
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