The first dark, primordial galaxy has gas, but no stars
<p>Imagine, if you dare, what the Universe was like before any stars had ever formed within it. All of the normal, atom-based matter within it was pristine, but the regions that had slightly more matter than normal would start attracting everything in their vicinity. Over time, they would build up larger and larger amounts of mass, until a critical threshold was reached that triggered gravitational collapse. Once that occurred, you’d make stars, and be well on your way to building up what would someday turn into a modern-day galaxy. These early “first galaxies,” still beyond the reach of even JWST, must have been quite abundant early on.</p>
<p>But are there any local, nearby analogues? Are there large, galaxy-scale populations of gas, at present, where maybe only a small number of stars exist within that clump at all? Could there even be enormous clouds of matter that have yet to collapse and form stars, bound together in a great, dark, star-free halo?</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/starts-with-a-bang/the-first-dark-primordial-galaxy-has-gas-but-no-stars-e9c39f6f8474"><strong>Read More</strong></a></p>