 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Astronomical Unifying Principle Created
UPI Correspondent Santa Cruz CA (UPI) Mar 08, 2007 U.S. astronomers have developed a unifying principle to describe all galaxies, from orderly spirals to chaotic mergers, with mathematical precision. University of California-Santa Cruz scientists found the relationship between a galaxy's mass and the orbital speed of its stars and gas is consistent over a wide range of galaxy morphologies and over billions of years of galaxy evolution. The researchers, using results from a major survey of distant galaxies, found certain fundamental properties of galaxies changed little during the past 8 billion years -- about half the age of the universe. "We think this trend reflects a regularity in the process that led to the formation of galaxies," said astronomy and astrophysics Professor Sandra Faber. "We are not sure where it comes from but it is a major constraint on galaxy formation." Faber, along with postdoctoral researcher Susan Kassin, determined the more massive a galaxy is, the faster the stars and gas within it move. They discovered the relationship by analyzing data from ground-based and space-based telescopes for 544 distant galaxies with a range of morphologies. The complex research is to be published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Source: United Press International Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Stellar Chemistry, The Universe And All Within It Understanding Time and Space
Atomic Clock Signals May Be Best Shared By Fiber-Optics
Boulder CO (SPX) Mar 06, 2007Time and frequency information can be transferred between laboratories or to other users in several ways, often using the Global Positioning System (GPS). But today's best atomic clocks are so accurate-neither gaining nor losing one second in as long as 400 million years-that more stable methods are needed. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
