The Large Magellanic Cloud’s peculiar shape may be the result of a collision with a cloud of dark matter (Image: NASA / SPL)
A NEARBY galaxy may have been mangled in a hit-and-run by a speeding cloud of dark matter.
Astronomers have long struggled to explain the lopsided shape of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy (pictured). Many galaxies feature a central bar-shaped concentration of stars, but the one in the LMC is offset from its middle.
A recent collision with another galaxy might explain it, but none of those visible nearby have a trajectory that traces…
