Dark Galaxies -- the Dominant Population?

Details Dark Galaxies -- the Dominant Population? Dark Galaxies -- the Dominant Population?

1997-10-28

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9710321v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

A&A Letter in press. 5 pages plain TeX A&A macros including 2 Postscript figures

Scientific paper

This paper argues that there is a large population of dark galaxies which reveals its presence by the gravitational lensing of quasars, and outnumbers normal galaxies by around 3:1. There are 8 double quasars with a separation greater than 2 arcseconds which have been classified as probable or certain gravitational lenses. Lensing galaxies have only been found for 2 of these systems, and analysis of the remainder has led in each case to the conclusion that they are best explained by the gravitational lensing effect of a `dark galaxy'. Here we examine the ensemble properties of this sample and conclude that there is overwhelming evidence that the systems are indeed being gravitationally lensed by dark galaxies or perhaps dark matter galactic halos. The existence and nature of such objects raises some intriguing questions, as well as having profound implications for large scale structure. Several of the quasar systems show strong evidence for microlensing. It is argued that this implies a substantial component of dark matter in the form of compact bodies, either in the halo of the lensing galaxy or more generally along the line of sight.

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