From the Cambridge Institute of Astronomy: New dwarf galaxies discovered in orbit around the Milky Way

“A team of astronomers from the University of Cambridge have identified nine new dwarf satellites orbiting the Milky Way, the largest number ever discovered at once. The findings, from newly-released imaging data taken from the Dark Energy Survey, may help unravel the mysteries behind dark matter, the invisible substance holding galaxies together.

“The new results also mark the first discovery of dwarf galaxies – small celestial objects that orbit larger galaxies – in a decade, after dozens were found in 2005 and 2006 in the skies above the northern hemisphere. The new satellites were found in the southern hemisphere near the Large and Small Magellanic Cloud …”

Thanks to WinterKnight for drawing attention to this article at S@h.

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From the PR: "The Cambridge research, funded by the European Research Council, will be published in The Astrophysical Journal."

Interesting that while there have been papers published on some dwarf galaxies discovered by DES, there's no sign of the Cambridge team's paper in ApJ (per ADS). All I could find is a reference to the IAU presentation (ADS link).