Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T21:32:39.628Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Using Globular Clusters to Test Newton's Law of Gravity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2016

Riccardo Scarpa
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Santiago, Chile
Gianni Marconi
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Santiago, Chile
Roberto Gilmozzi
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Santiago, Chile

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

New measurements of the velocity dispersion of the globular cluster ω Centauri allow us to trace its gravitational potential down to an acceleration of 8 × 10–9 cm s–2. It is found that the dispersion profile remains flat well inside the tidal radius as soon as the acceleration of gravity approaches a0, a result that finds its simplest explanation within the context of MOND. A similar behaviour is observed in the globular cluster M15 showing this is not a peculiar feature of ω Centauri. This result is surprising and suggestive of a failure of Newton's law at low accelerations.

Type
Part 6: The Galaxy
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2004 

References

Begeman, K.G., Broeils, A.H. & Sanders, R. H. 1991, MNRAS, 249, 523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carollo, C.M., de Zeeuw, P.T., van der Marel, R.P., et al. 1995, ApJ, 441, L25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drukier, G.A., Slavin, S.D., Cohn, H.N. et al 1998, ApJ, 115, 708.Google Scholar
Hilker, M. & Richtler, T. 2000, A&A, 362, 895.Google Scholar
Lee, Y.W., Joo, J.M., Sohn, Y.J. et al. 1999, Nature, 402, 55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mandushev, G., Spassova, N. & Staneva, A. 1991, A&A, 252, 94.Google Scholar
Meylan, G. & Mayor, M. 1986, A&A, 166, 122.Google Scholar
Meylan, G., Mayor, M., Duquennoy, A. & Dubath, P. 1995, A&A, 303, 761.Google Scholar
Milgrom, M. 1983, ApJ, 270, 365.Google Scholar
van Leeuwen, F., Le Poole, R. S., Reijns, R.A. et al. 2000, A&A, 360, 472.Google Scholar