London, Oct 13 (ANI): Scientists have solved the puzzle as to why so few dwarf galaxies have been spotted near the Milky Way, attributing the reason to the fact that home-grown dwarf galaxies keep a low profile, while recent arrivals show off.

According to a report in New Scientist, around 20 dwarf galaxies have so far been found near our galaxy, which is far fewer than expected, based on simulations of how galactic matter clumps together.

Elena DOnghia of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and George Lake of the University of Zurich, Switzerland, propose that many go uncounted because they have trouble holding on to the gas needed to form stars in the crowded Milky Way.

This would make them practically invisible.

The few dwarfs that can be seen, according to the researchers, may have migrated from elsewhere relatively recently.

Nine of the brightest dwarf galaxies around the Milky Way are in the same plane, which would suggest they have a common origin.

Its a plausible hypothesis, but its fairly hard to prove, said Roeland van der Marel of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. (ANI)