Astrophysicists have made a mysterious discovery while analyzing some star clusters. This discovery defies Newton’s laws of gravitation. Instead, the observations are consistent with predictions of an alternative theory of gravity. (The technical term for alien gravity.)
The discovery cannot be explained by classical assumptions.
An international team of astrophysicists has made a mysterious discovery while analyzing some star clusters. The researchers write in their publication that this discovery defies Newton’s laws of gravitation. Instead, the observations are consistent with predictions of an alternative theory of gravity. However, this is controversial among experts. The results were published in the Journal of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The University of Bonn played an important role in the study.
In the course of their work, the researchers examined so-called open star clusters, which are unrelated groups of a few dozen to a few hundred stars in spiral and irregular galaxies. Open clusters form when thousands of stars are born over a short period of time in a huge cloud of gas. When it “lights up,” those from the galaxy blow off the remnants of a gas cloud. During this process, the mass expands significantly. This creates a loose formation of tens to thousands of stars. Mass is held together by weak gravitational forces acting on each other.
“In most cases, open star clusters live for only a few hundred million years before they melt,” explains Professor Dr. Pavel Krupa from the Helmholtz Institute for Radiation and Nuclear Physics at the University of Bonn. During this process, stars are regularly lost, which accumulate in the so-called “tidal tail”. One of these tails is dragging behind the block as it moves through space. On the other hand, the other takes on the role of the spearhead.
Prof. Dr. Pavel Krupa from the Helmholtz Institute for Radiation and Nuclear Physics at the University of Bonn. Acknowledgments: Volker Lannert / University of Bonn
“According to Newton’s laws of gravitation, it depends on the chance that the tail ends up in the missing star,” explains Dr. Jan Pvalam Altenberg, a fellow at the Helmholtz Institute for Radiation and Nuclear Physics. “Therefore, there should be approximately the same number of stars at both ends. However, in the course of our work, we were able for the first time to prove that this is not true: in the groups we studied, the front tail always contains several stars close to the mass. Like the tail rear”.
A new method for calculating stars has been developed
Among the millions of stars close to the mass, it was almost impossible to tell which one belonged to their tails – until now. “This includes looking at the speed and direction of movement, as well as the age of each object,” explains Dr. Teresa Yarapkova. The research co-author, who received his Ph.D. from Kroupa . group, recently moved European Space Agency (ESA) for the European Southern Observatory in Garching. He developed a method that allowed him to accurately count stars in their tails for the first time. “So far, five open clusters have been examined near us, including four of them,” he says. “When we analyzed all the data, we encountered a contradiction with the current theory. Very accurate survey data The European Space Agency’s Gaia mission It is necessary for this.”
In the Hyades cluster (above), the number of stars (black) in the tail of the front tides is much greater than in the back. A similar image is shown in a computer simulation with MOND (below). Credit: AG Kroupa / Uni Bonn
In contrast, observational data fit the theory better say (“Modified Newtonian Dynamics”) among experts. “Simply put, according to MOND, stars can leave the group through two different doors,” Kroupa explains. “One leads to extending the tail in the back, the other forward. However, the first is much narrower than the second – so it is unlikely that the star will leave mass through it. On the other hand, Newton’s gravitational theory predicts that both doors should be the same width “.
Star clusters have shorter lives than Newton’s laws predict
According to MOND, the team of astrophysicists has calculated the expected distribution of stars. “The results are surprisingly consistent with the observations,” stresses Dr. Ingo Theis, who played a key role in the corresponding simulations. However, we had to resort to relatively simple arithmetic methods for this. At the moment, mathematical tools are lacking for a more detailed analysis of modified Newtonian dynamics.” However, simulations also coincided with the observations: they predicted how long star clusters could remain open naturally. This period is much shorter than expected.” This explains A long-known mystery,” Kroupa notes. “Specifically, star clusters in nearby galaxies are disappearing faster than they should.”
However, the MOND theory is not controversial among experts. Since Newton’s laws of gravitation would not be valid under certain conditions, but would have to be modified, this would have far-reaching consequences for other areas of physics as well. “At the same time, he solves many problems of cosmology today,” explains Kroupa, who is also a member of the Interdisciplinary Research Areas in Modeling and Matter at the University of Bonn. Astrophysicists are now exploring new mathematical methods for more accurate simulations. They can then be used to find more evidence that the MOND theorem is correct or not.
Reference: “Asymmetrical Tails for Open Clusters: Brah Cluster Transit Stars Defy Newtonian Gravity” – Pavel Karpa, Teresa Yarapkova, Ingo Theis, Jan Pvalam-Altenberg, Benoit Famy, Henry M. J. Boffin, Jörg Dabringhausen, Giacomo Beccari, Christian Boyle, Hossin Hadji , Zuven Wu, Jaroslav Hass, Akram Hosni Zunuzzi, Guillaume Thomas, Ladislav Uber and Ambassador J Arsith, October 26, 2022, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stac2563
In addition to the University of Bonn, the study also included Charles University in Prague and the European Southern Observatory.[{” attribute=””>ESO) in Garching, the Observatoire astronomique de Strasbourg, the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESA ESTEC) in Nordwijk, the Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS) in Zanjan (Iran), the University of Science and Technology of China, the Universidad de La Laguna in Tenerife, and the University of Cambridge.
The study was funded by the Scholarship Program of the Czech Republic, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the French funding organization Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR), and the European Research Council ERC.
