Authored by Neetika Walter via Interesting Engineering,
Scientists have tested gravity across some of the largest structures in the universe and found that it behaves exactly as predicted by long-standing physical laws.
Researchers led by University of Pennsylvania used data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope to examine how galaxy clusters move across vast cosmic distances.
Their results show thatgravity weakens with distance in line with the inverse-square law first described by Isaac Newton and later embedded in Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
The findings challenge alternative theories that suggest gravity changes at large scales and instead reinforce the idea that an unseen component, dark matter, is shaping cosmic motion.
“Astrophysics has been plagued by a massive discrepancy in the cosmic ledger,” said Patricio A. Gallardo.
“When we look at how stars orbit within galaxies or how galaxies move within galaxy clusters,some appear to be traveling way too fast for the amount of visible matter they contain.”
To test whether gravity itself might be responsible, the researchers analyzed subtle distortions in the cosmic microwave background as it passes through massive galaxy clusters.
These distortions, caused by the motion of hot gas around clusters, allowed the team to measure how quickly clusters are moving toward each other across distances spanning hundreds of millions of light-years.
The results closely matched predictions from classical and relativistic physics, showing no evidence that gravity weakens differently than expected at these scales.
Source: ZeroHedge News
