The Jerusalem Post reports that “Certain star clusters do not seem to be following current understandings of Isaac Newton’s laws of gravity, according to new research published on Wednesday.” (Specifically open star clusters, formed when thousands of stars are born in a gas cloud within a short time period.)

The researchers examined data on each stars’ velocity, direction of motion and age using data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission that allowed them to count the stars accurately for the very first time. The results?

As the clusters dissolve, the stars accumulate on two “tidal tails:” one pulled behind the cluster and the other pushed forward. “According to Newton’s laws of gravity, it’s a matter of chance in which of the tails a lost star ends up,” explains Dr. Jan Pflamm-Altenburg of the Helmholtz Institute of Radiation and Nuclear Physics at the University of Bonn. “So both tails should contain about the same number of stars. However, in our work we were able to prove for the first time that this is not true: In the clusters we studied, the front tail always contains significantly more stars nearby to the cluster than the rear tail….”

When the researchers looked at the data, they found that it did not fit Newton’s law of gravity and instead fit better with an alternate theory called Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND).

“Put simply, according to MOND, stars can leave a cluster through two different doors,” explained Prof. Dr. Pavel Kroupa of the Helmholtz Institute of Radiation and Nuclear Physics. “One leads to the rear tidal tail, the other to the front. However, the first is much narrower than the second — so it’s less likely that a star will leave the cluster through it. Newton’s theory of gravity, on the other hand, predicts that both doors should be the same width….”

The simulations also coincided with the Gaia data in terms of how long the star clusters typically survive, which is much shorter than would be expected according to Newton’s laws….
The MOND theory is controversial as modifications to Newton’s laws of gravity would have far-reaching consequences for other areas of physics as well, although they would solve many problems facing cosmology.

Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 for submitting the story!

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Source: Slashdot – Behavior of Star Clusters Challenges Newton’s Laws of Gravity