In 1951, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky was observing the Coma Cluster of galaxies using a telescope at Palomar Observatory I in San Diego County, California. This cluster, containing more than 1,000 identified galaxies, is located in the constellation of Coma Berenices, and it’s known to be one of the densest in the universe. While looking at the Coma Cluster, Zwicky noticed there was light in the region between the galaxies. Although the glow was faint, this luminescent intergalactic matter nevertheless pointed to the presence of stars. The difference is, these stars were rogue. Since they were outside of the galaxies, they were considered homeless. Their fate, it would seem, was to wander endlessly in the vastness of space. But how did they get there?
The presence of such stars has been a mystery ever since, and while astronomers have come up with a number of theories to explain how these stars came to be gravitationally untethered from any single galaxy, none have been entirely satisfactory. In fact, as a recent study suggests, previous explanations for how these lost souls ended up being scattered across clusters are now being thrown to the wind. Even with fresh light having been cast on the mystery, it remains unresolved, although we are admittedly getting ever closer.
Among those to take a keen interest in the presence of
