Simulations suggest stellar stream irregularities may not solely indicate dark matter.

A University of Washington study, published in The Astrophysical Journal, challenges a prominent theory linking dark matter clumps to irregularities in stellar streams. Simulations of Milky Way-sized galaxies without dark matter clumps showed that host galaxies alone could cause similar stream anomalies. This suggests observed stellar stream irregularities may not exclusively indicate dark matter, prompting a reevaluation of galactic phenomena and dark matter detection methods.