What is the actual speed and direction of our solar system as it moves through the cosmos, and how does this compare to longstanding cosmology models? This is what a recent study published in Physical Review Letters hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated what’s known as the cosmological standard model, which is used for determining the universe’s origin, evolution, and structure, and how it relates to our solar system. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand our solar system’s role in the universe and what this could mean for finding life beyond Earth.
For the study, the researchers analyzed radio signals from several radio observatories, including the LOFAR (Low Frequency Array) telescope. This enabled the team to conduct a first-time inventory of radio galaxies, as these types of galaxies provide insight into the early universe, specifically supermassive black holes and galaxy formation and evolution. In the end, the researchers found that their radio galaxy data is significantly different from longstanding cosmology models, specifically regarding radio galaxy distribution, as it’s 3.7 times stronger than longstanding models. This means that our solar system is moving more than three times as fast through the universe as previously thought.
“If our solar system is indeed moving this fast, we need to question fundamental assumptions about the large-scale structure of the universe,” said Dr. Dominik J. Schwarz, who is a cosmologist at Bielefeld University and a co-author on the study. “Alternatively, the distribution of radio galaxies itself may be less uniform than we have believed. In either case, our current models are being put to the test.”
What new insight into the solar system’s speed and direction and how this compares to the universe will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Physical Review Letters, EurekAlert!
Featured Image: Study lead Lukas Böhme at the Lovell Telescope, Jodrell Bank, England. (Credit: Böhme)