Secrets of the Milky Way revealed (From Durham Times)

Secrets of the Milky Way revealed

11:30am Sunday 5th July 2009

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MILLIONS of would-be galaxies failed to develop after being exposed to intense heat from the first stars and black holes formed in the early universe, according to new research.

Our Milky Way galaxy only survived because it was already immersed in a large clump of mysterious dark matter which trapped gases inside it, Durham University scientists have found.

Prof Carlos Frenk, director of the university’s institute for computational cosmology, said: “The validity of the standard model of our universe hinges on finding a satisfactory explanation for why galaxies like the Milky Way have so few companions.

“The simulations show that hundreds of thousands of small dark matter clumps should be orbiting the Milky Way, but they didn’t form galaxies.

“We can demonstrate that it was almost impossible for the potential galaxies to survive the extreme heat generated by the first stars and black holes.”

The team’s findings were presented to the Unity of the Universe conference, held in Portsmouth on Wednesday.

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