Lopsided star cluster may disprove Newton and Einstein, controversial new study claims

By Tom Metcalfe published about 14 hours ago

An uneven distribution of stars in several nearby clusters may offer evidence of MOND – a controversial theory of gravity that disputes Newton and rejects the existence of dark matter.



The Hyades star cluster (pink) curls across the sky amid well-known constellations (green). The cluster is at the center of a controversial new study proposing an alternative to Newton's theory of gravity.
The Hyades star cluster (pink) curls across the sky amid well-known constellations (green). The cluster is at the center of a controversial new study proposing an alternative to Newton's theory of gravity. (Image credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC, CC BY-SA 3.0)


Astronomers observing star clusters in our galaxy have found evidence that controversially challenges Newton's laws of gravity and could upend our understanding of the universe. The puzzling finding could support a controversial idea that does away entirely with dark matter.

The researchers found this evidence by observing open star clusters, or loosely bound groups of up to a few hundred stars sitting within larger galaxies. Open star clusters have trails of stars, known as "tidal tails," in front of and behind them. The researchers' observations indicate that such clusters have many more stars sitting in the overall direction of their travel through space than trailing behind. This throws into question Newton's law of universal gravitation, which suggests that there should be the same number of stars in both tidal tails.

"It's extremely significant," astrophysicist Pavel Kroupa of the University of Bonn told Live Science. "There is a huge effect."

Kroupa is the lead author of a study published Oct. 26 in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society that argues the observations are evidence of modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) — an alternative theory of gravity to Newton's widely accepted universal law of gravitation.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/star-cluster-mond-disprove-newton