He says the team studied pictures of the white dwarfs taken during the past thirty years. This is a very large circular collection of stars and gas that surrounds our Milky Way galaxy. This is important because the halo is much larger than the Milky Way galaxy itself. The researchers suggest that there are many white dwarf stars throughout this halo. This discovery would explain much of the mass that cannot be found in our galaxy.
Scientists estimate that most of the dark matter in our universe is made up of unusual particles.
These particles do not contain protons or neutrons found in atoms. Scientists have not been able to identify these particles. Some scientists are calling this discovery of observable dark matter historic. They say the findings raise many questions about how stars and our galaxy were formed. They also say the discovery opens the way for more study of some of the unexplained matter.