Using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the motion of the satellite galaxies indicated the presence of a much larger, invisible mass. In other words, the larger galaxies are located at the center of giant concentrations of dark matter.
"This is a very important test of our understanding of how the universe works," said one of the researchers, Anatoly Klypin of New Mexico State University. "This is one of the most direct probes of the distribution of dark matter and the properties of dark matter."
The study further found that the gravitational pull of dark matter weakened at its periphery, a unique property not exhibited by bodies composed of ordinary matter.
"We detected a specific law -- the decline in dark-matter density toward the periphery," said Klypin. "The goal of our research is now to measure that law."
Dennis Zaritsky, an astronomer at University of Arizona at Tucson, first postulated dark matter in 1994. Zaritsky saw the excessive motion of satellite galaxies, indicating the presence of an invisible mass, but made no attempt to measure it.
"He was the first to see there was something wrong with motion," said Klypin. "Now (that) weve measured the law, we can reject other theories like MOND."
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,58966,00.html
Thursday, May 22, 2003
Popular Posts
-
Some good stuff from a Canadian futurist: - The rising power of the knowledge worker - Continuous training replaces job security; respect is...
-
Very dry, dull book with some basic financial info like ROI and cash flow. Not a lot here.
-
I had the pleasure to attend the IBM Think conference in wet and chilly San Fran from Feb 11-14th of this year. The event overall was ...
-
It's been almost exaclty three years since I've updated this blog. In that three years, I've achieved a lot -- I've gone aft...
-
Not a bad audio book, but I expected more. Big ideas: Build a high performance, high-trust culture; Identify desired results and un...
-
Here's my (edited) journal entry for this event dated 12/01/98: Wow. I just sessioned and started reading "The Tao of Physics...
-
Nother confirmation Of einstein... the first images of light escaping a black hole show that they lose energy. In this case, it was a superm...
-
Brad Dalton is the first to admit his theory is far-fetched: that bacteria could account for odd light emissions, as well as the reddish hue...
-
Increasingly, the overstretched and overburdened have a new answer to work lives of gunning harder for what seems like less and less: Dont j...
-
I'm sure someone else has written the rules of business out in terms of the Bushido, but here's my take: Truthfulness You must speak...