Astronomers Discover more than 800 Dark Galaxies in the Coma Cluster

A group of researchers have discovered 854 previously hidden 'Ultra Dark' galaxies in the Coma Cluster that could be possibly be filled with dark matter.

This surpasses last year discovery of 47 dark galaxies and scientists feel that these clusters are vital to the evolution of galaxies.

While ultra-dark galaxies are similar in size to the Milky Way, they have only 1/1000 the number of stars our galaxy has.

Due to strong tidal force detected within the cluster, the stellar popular are subjected through rapid disruptions.

"The findings suggest that these galaxies appear very diffuse and are very likely enveloped by something very massive. ... We believe that something invisible must be protecting the fragile star systems of these galaxies, something with a high mass," Jin Koda, principal investigator of the study and associate professor in the department of physics and astronomy at the university, said, in a statement.

"That 'something' is very likely an excessive amount of dark matter," Koda said.

Visible matter such as stars account for less than 1 percent of the total mass of a galaxy while the rest is dark matter which can constitute as much as 99 percent or more.

"This discovery of dark galaxies may be the tip of the iceberg," Koda said, in the statement. "We may find more if we look for fainter galaxies embedded in a large amount of dark matter, with the Subaru Telescope and additional observations may expose this hidden side of the universe."