Can a higher mass-to-light ratio mean that there is gas and dust present in the system that is being analyzed?

mass-to-light ratio is the ratio of the mass of a body and the light output it has. it is represented by in terms of a single number and and tells us about the kind of stars making up the most luminous population in a galaxy. the mass-to-ratio of stars is greater than 1, for dark matter is 100 times high and very low for dust. higher mass-to-ratio mean that in a galaxy on average every solar mass emits a light less than the sun of the earth solar system does.

the large mass-to-light ratio shows that gas and dust is being analyzed.