NASA's Hubble studied 37 nearby dwarf galaxies and found they kept an average of just 11% of the oxygen made by their stars, leaving astronomers investigating where it went

Global Science Fri, 06 Nov 2026 05:36:00 GMT Moderate confidence — 73/100

Photo from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope of NGC 4449 dwarf galaxy Image Credits: NASAOur cosmic neighbourhood is full of surprises, some you cannot even imagine.
In a paper published on Monday in The Astrophysical Journal, researchers using the Hubble Space Telescope studied 37 nearby dwarf galaxies and found that much of the oxygen they expected to find was missing.
In fact, these galaxies retained just 11% of the oxygen their stars had produced over time.

Photo from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope of NGC 4449 dwarf galaxy Image Credits: NASAOur cosmic neighbourhood is full of surprises, some you cannot even imagine.
In a paper published on Monday in The Astrophysical Journal, researchers using the Hubble Space Telescope studied 37 nearby dwarf galaxies and found that much of the oxygen they expected to find was missing.
In fact, these galaxies retained just 11% of the oxygen their stars had produced over time.

Sources: Times of India