"Dark Flow" in space?

[scotthm]

Patches of matter in the universe seem to be moving at very high speeds and in a uniform direction that can't be explained by any of the known gravitational forces in the observable universe. Astronomers are calling the phenomenon "dark flow."

The stuff that's pulling this matter must be outside the observable universe, researchers conclude.


Scientists discovered the flow by studying some of the largest structures in the cosmos: giant clusters of galaxies.

...a team of researchers led by Alexander Kashlinsky, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. ...discovered that the clusters were moving nearly 2 million mph (3.2 million kph) toward a region in the sky between the constellations of Centaurus and Vela. This motion is different from the outward expansion of the universe...

"We found a very significant velocity, and furthermore, this velocity does not decrease with distance, as far as we can measure," Kashlinsky told SPACE.com. "The matter in the observable universe just cannot produce the flow we measure."

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080923-dark-flows.html


There's something about this I don't quite understand.

If every place in the universe is at the 'center', and the universe looks (mostly) uniform in every direction, why should gravity in the 'hidden' parts of the universe pull galaxy clusters in any particular direction? Wouldn't this violate the Cosmological Principle?

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[Meredith]

Patches of matter in the universe seem to be moving at very high speeds and in a uniform direction that can't be explained by any of the known gravitational forces in the observable universe. Astronomers are calling the phenomenon "dark flow."

The stuff that's pulling this matter must be outside the observable universe, researchers conclude.


Scientists discovered the flow by studying some of the largest structures in the cosmos: giant clusters of galaxies.

...a team of researchers led by Alexander Kashlinsky, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. ...discovered that the clusters were moving nearly 2 million mph (3.2 million kph) toward a region in the sky between the constellations of Centaurus and Vela. This motion is different from the outward expansion of the universe...

"We found a very significant velocity, and furthermore, this velocity does not decrease with distance, as far as we can measure," Kashlinsky told SPACE.com. "The matter in the observable universe just cannot produce the flow we measure."

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080923-dark-flows.html


There's something about this I don't quite understand.

If every place in the universe is at the 'center', and the universe looks (mostly) uniform in every direction, why should gravity in the 'hidden' parts of the universe pull galaxy clusters in any particular direction? Wouldn't this violate the Cosmological Principle?

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If the universe exists on a bane, or a sheet int he multiverse and gravity can "leak" through banes then we could be influenced by the gravitational effects of other universes.

This other universe could be trillions of LY or just a few millimeters away from us but in the direction of "fred" rather than up, down, left or right.

 

[Zachary Smith]

If gravity can "leak" across, then is it possible other elements might also be able to be "transmitted", thereby allowing communication with the other universe. Could we also gain or lose energy in our universe via the same method?

(Be interesting if we were able to somehow tap energy from outside our universe for use within our own--not so much a generator type system as a conductor).

 

[scotthm]

If the universe exists on a bane, or a sheet int he multiverse and gravity can "leak" through banes then we could be influenced by the gravitational effects of other universes.

Since scientists aren't quite sure what's going on I suppose that's possible, but the article implies that this mass is in our universe but has 'inflated' beyond our direct perception.

The part that seems odd to me is that this mass seems to be in a particular direction rather than just 'around us', as the observable universe seems to be.

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[Shaw]

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but I think the most important line in that article is this one:

"The researchers detail their findings in the Oct. 20 issue of the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters. "​

This hasn't even reach the actual physics community yet. Articles on ideas like this one appear in the popular media all the time that are later discarded with little fanfare.

Things like Brane cosmology or even String Theory are (despite their popularity) still fringe science. Just because people doing research in these areas are excited about it doesn't translate into these areas being either established or fruitful.

As I've said many times in the past... a healthy dose of skepticism should be applied when reading anything like this.

 

[Zachary Smith]

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but I think the most important line in that article is this one:

"The researchers detail their findings in the Oct. 20 issue of the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters. "
​

This hasn't even reach the actual physics community yet. Articles on ideas like this one appear in the popular media all the time that are later discarded with little fanfare.

Things like Brane cosmology or even String Theory are (despite their popularity) still fringe science. Just because people doing research in these areas are excited about it doesn't translate into these areas being either established or fruitful.

As I've said many times in the past... a healthy dose of skepticism should be applied when reading anything like this.

Well, hell then . . .

Nothing to see here, people. Nothing to see. Move along!!!