Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have confirmed the first-ever starless, gas-rich, dark-matter-dominated cloud, nicknamed “Cloud-9,” near the galaxy Messier 94.

This object, a Reionization-Limited H I Cloud (RELHIC), contains neutral hydrogen and about five billion solar masses of dark matter but has not formed stars, representing a “failed galaxy” and a relic of early galaxy formation.

Cloud-9 was initially discovered three years ago via radio surveys by FAST in China and later confirmed by U.S. telescopes, but only Hubble’s sensitivity proved it contains no stars.

Measuring about 4,900 light-years across, the cloud provides a rare opportunity to study dark matter and gas without the interference of stars, offering insights into the universe’s early stages and the physics of galaxy formation, NASA.gov has reported.

Researchers believe similar RELHICs may exist, and future surveys could uncover more “failed galaxies” that illuminate the dark, hidden structures shaping the cosmos.