Discovery of dark matter haloes and the Rubin-Ford effect

The Rubin–Ford effect, an apparent anisotropy in the expansion of the Universe on the scale of 100 million light years, was discovered through studies of spiral galaxies, particularly the Andromeda Galaxy. The idea of peculiar motion on this scale in the universe was a highly controversial proposition, which Rubin et al. first published in journals in 1976. It was dismissed by leading astronomers but ultimately shown to be valid. The effect is now known as large scale streaming. Rubin moved on to study the rotation and outer reaches of galaxies. She investigated the rotation curves of spiral galaxies, again beginning with Andromeda, by looking at their outermost material. She observed flat rotation curves: the outermost components of the galaxy were moving as quickly as those close to the center. This was an early indication that spiral galaxies were surrounded by dark matter haloes. Her work here provided early evidence for the existence of dark matter.

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Category:
Astronomy - Dark Matter

Completion Status:
yes

Patent Number:
N/A

Co-Inventor:
none