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A Kansas State University researcher analyzing James Webb Space Telescope data found 263 distant galaxies rotate in one direction more often, raising questions about cosmology.
A researcher analyzing observations from the James Webb Space Telescope has uncovered a puzzling pattern in how distant galaxies rotate, one that puts a new spin on the longstanding question of whether our universe could be inside a black hole. Lior Shamir, a computer scientist at Kansas State University, found the asymmetry while studying 263 galaxies observed by the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey, known as JADES.
The findings appear in a paper titled The distribution of galaxy rotation in JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey. According to the paper, the number of galaxies in that field that rotate in the opposite direction relative to the Milky Way is roughly 50 per cent higher than the number that rotate in the same direction.
NASA has said that most of the universe that can be known remains unknown and that, in a cosmic sense, we just got here. The new results add to that sense of unfinished business.
James Webb Telescope Background
The James Webb Space Telescope launched on December 25, 2021, and has revolutionized astronomers' ability to study the distant universe. Unlike earlier observatories, JWST uses infrared technology to peer deep into the cosmos and observe some of the earliest galaxies.
Scientists use the telescope to investigate how galaxies formed and evolved. NASA has described Webb as studying every phase in the history of our universe, from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, and to the evolution of our own Solar System.
One of the surveys taking advantage of those capabilities is JADES, which uses the telescope to study distant galaxies and the early universe. It was while analyzing observations from JADES that Shamir noticed something unexpected in the rotation of those galaxies.
Galaxy Rotation Asymmetry Explained
Cosmology generally assumes that the universe should look broadly the same in all directions at sufficiently large scales. Astronomers would therefore expect the numbers of galaxies rotating one way or the other to be roughly balanced.
That raises the question of why Shamir found an apparent preferred direction for galactic rotation. He is not claiming to have a definitive answer. He said it is still not clear what causes this to happen, but there are two primary possible explanations.
Shamir says one possible reason JWST may have seen an overrepresentation of galaxies rotating in one direction could be the relative motion between the Milky Way and the distant galaxies. Because we observe those galaxies from within our own rotating galaxy, their motion relative to the Milky Way could affect how bright they appear.
He said the motion makes them brighter, and that is why we see more of them. Previously, however, scientists had considered the Milky Way's rotation too slow to have a meaningful impact on JWST observations, according to Space.com's Robert Lea.
If Shamir's suggestion is correct, it could have consequences beyond this particular observation. He concluded that we will need to re-calibrate our distance measurements for the deep universe, adding that the re-calibration could also explain several other unsolved questions in cosmology.
Black Hole Cosmology Possibility
The other possibility is that the universe itself could have been born rotating. Shamir explains that this idea is compatible with black-hole cosmology, a speculative theory suggesting that our observable universe could be the interior of a black hole.
The idea goes back several decades, and theoretical physicist Nikodem Poplawski has developed one version of the theory. In his theory, matter collapsing inside a black hole would eventually stop collapsing and instead undergo a bounce like a compressed spring, creating a new, expanding universe rather than a singularity.
And here is where the rotation comes in. For generations, humans had little means of understanding what lay beyond our world, relying instead on myths to explain the origins of everything. Over the centuries, mathematics, observation and increasingly sophisticated scientific tools transformed that understanding of the cosmos.
Yet for all the breakthroughs that followed, NASA's assessment that most of the knowable universe remains unknown still frames the work. The Webb telescope's deep surveys continue to test assumptions about how the universe behaves on the largest scales.
The rotation asymmetry Shamir identified does not settle the debate. Instead, it sharpens the questions astronomers must address, whether through recalibrated distance measurements or through more exotic theories about the universe's origin.
Please follow us on Google to support usJames Webb Telescope Galaxy Rotation Lior Shamir Black Hole Cosmology Kansas State University JADES Survey Nikodem Poplawski
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