Science, Discovery, Tech and Environment · 8 January 2026
NASA Confirms First Starless Dark-Matter Hydrogen Cloud 'Cloud-9' Near Messier 94
Exam-focused facts from the 8 January 2026 current affairs briefing.
Key facts
- NASA dubbed the object 'Cloud-9' and described it as a 'starless, gas-rich dark-matter' hydrogen cloud.
- Cloud-9's core is made up of neutral hydrogen and is about 4,900 light-years in diameter.
- The hydrogen mass is estimated at one million times the mass of the sun, with dark matter totaling about five billion solar masses.
- Cloud-9 is the ninth gas cloud identified on the outskirts of the nearby spiral galaxy Messier 94 and appears to have a 'physical association' with it.
- Hubble Space Telescope observations confirmed there are no stars inside Cloud-9, supporting theories of failed galaxy formation.