Some thought it possible that our galaxy could essentially be duplicated within the universe. However, anyone who doubted this thought was proven wrong due to research recently completed by the Astrophysical Journal. The Milky Way is now known to have a “dark twin” named Dragonfly 44.

Found on a whim while sifting through the galaxies for visible star-infused compositions, Dragonfly 44 was stumbled upon due to a change of speed amongst the moving stars and matter.

It mirrors our galaxy almost exactly, minus the fact that it contains an enormous amount of dark matter and only contains 1% of the stars that encompass our galaxy.

Dark matter is what keeps the universe intact.  Thought to be one of the most profound mysteries in science, it functions as a hyperactive force that pulls both stars and galaxies at top speeds throughout the universe. Due to the imperceptible view of dark matter, it was difficult for scientists to be able to locate this particular galaxy.

Using various telescopes that have the ability to perceive entities 330 million light-years away, including the Dragonfly telescope put together by Pieter Van Dokkum and Roberto Abraham, Dragonfly 44 was able to be seen clearly.

In 2011 Van Dokkum and Abraham sat down for dinner to discuss various discoveries and research. Before the meal concluded, they had miraculously made plans to build a telescope that would expand from the original single lense to a 48 lense imaging system.

Using Van Dokkum’s background in photography and Abraham’s knowledge in astronomy, the two teamed up to create a contraption that has the potential to answer an infinite amount of questions regarding dark matter.

While it may seem that scientists have acquired a sufficient amount of information concerning dark matter, there are a lot of gaps of knowledge that have been insurmountable to fill. Now that astronomers and scientists have access to an efficient high power telescope, it is a lot easier to complete research on dark matter and make new discoveries.

After unintentionally falling upon such  astronomical gem, both Van Dokkum and Abraham are making it a goal to discover similar galaxies like Dragonfly 44, focusing on all types of star clusters both big and small.