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Galaxy formation

Gone with the wind?

Nature volume 463, pages 167–168 (2010)Cite this article

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Windy weather is forecast where stars are forming. Numerical simulations show that these winds can reshape dwarf galaxies, reconciling their properties with the prevailing theory of galaxy formation.

The smallest things often cause the most trouble. The smallest galaxies are no exception: they have long caused difficulties for modern cosmology. Neither the number nor the appearance of small 'dwarf' galaxies conforms to the predictions of the otherwise highly successful cold dark matter (CDM) theory of galaxy formation. Such predictions, however, are usually derived from simulations that don't include stars. This apparently glaring oversight is justified because visible matter plays a minor part in the much larger drama of galaxy formation. The hidden actor is dark matter, whose effects are felt only through gravity. On page 203 of this issue, however, Governato and colleagues1 demonstrate that visible matter also has a key role in modifying the properties of dwarf galaxies, thereby simultaneously solving two long-standing problems with CDM galaxy formation.

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Figure 1: Which is the real galaxy?

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  1. Marla Geha is in the Astronomy Department, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA. marla.geha@yale.edu

    Marla Geha

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  1. Marla Geha
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Geha, M. Gone with the wind?. Nature 463, 167–168 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/463167a

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