Since its launch, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revolutionized our understanding of the cosmos within a remarkably short period. This new study by a Kansas State University researcher uses JWST data.
The study uses James Webb Space Telescope’s Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) images. It found that most galaxies rotate in the same direction. Specifically, about two-thirds of the galaxies spin clockwise, while roughly one-third spin counterclockwise. This research was led by Lior Shamir and based on 263 galaxies in the JADES field.
Lior Shamir’s analysis of galaxy shapes from images taken by the Webb revealed a striking asymmetry in their rotation directions. This observation was precise enough that anyone could notice it without requiring specialized skills or knowledge.
In a random universe, the number of galaxies rotating clockwise and counterclockwise would be expected to be roughly equal. However, the findings suggest that most galaxies rotate in the same direction, challenging conventional expectations about cosmic randomness.
What causes the rotation of galaxies?
The mechanism behind this remains unknown, but according to Shamir, there are two possible explanations:
“One explanation is that the universe was born rotating. That explanation agrees with theories such as black hole cosmology, which postulates that the entire universe is the interior of a black hole. But if the universe was indeed born rotating, it means that the existing theories about the cosmos are incomplete.”
The Earth orbits the center of the Milky Way galaxy, and due to the Doppler shift effect, light from galaxies rotating opposite to the Earth’s rotation might appear brighter. This could explain why such galaxies seem more common in telescope observations. Astronomers might need to rethink the impact of the Milky Way’s rotation speed—previously considered too slow to matter—on their measurements.
Shamir said, “If that is true, we will need to re-calibrate our distance measurements for the deep universe. The re-calibration of distance measurements can also explain several other unsolved questions in cosmology, such as the differences in the expansion rates of the universe and the large galaxies that, according to the existing distance measurements, are expected to be older than the universe itself.”
Journal Reference:
- Lior Shamir. The distribution of galaxy rotation in JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. DOI: 10.1093/mnras/staf292
