Researchers at the University of St Andrews have found an unexpected link between mysterious "dark matter" and the visible stars and gas in galaxies that could revolutionise our understanding of gravity.
Dr Hongsheng Zhao, of the university's SUPA Centre of Gravity said that an unknown force appears to be acting on dark matter within galaxies.
Only four percent of the universe is made of known material. Stars and gas in galaxies move so fast that astronomers have speculated that the gravity from a hypothetical invisible halo of dark matter is needed to keep galaxies together.
However, a solid understanding of dark matter as well as direct evidence of its existence has remained elusive.
Now the St Andrews team believe that the interactions between dark and ordinary matter could be more important and more complex than previously thought. They have even speculated that dark matter might not exist and that the strange motions of stars in galaxies are due to a change in gravity.
Dr. Zhao said: "The pattern that the data reveal is extremely odd. It’s like finding a zoo of animals of all ages and sizes miraculously having identical, say, weight in their backbones or something.
"It is possible that a non-gravitational fifth force is ruling the dark matter with an invisible hand, leaving the same fingerprints on all galaxies, irrespective of their ages, shapes and sizes.”
The implications of the new research could change some of the most widely held scientific theories about the history and expansion of the universe.
The findings are published this week in the scientific journal Nature.
Last updated: 07 October 2009, 12:18
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