Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have discovered that stars located at the edge of the Milky Way disc move slower than expected compared to stars closer to the centre of the galaxy. According to a study published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS), the Milky Way’s gravitational core may contain less dark matter.
Astronomers analysed data from the Gaia space telescope and the ground-based APOGEE instrument. They measured the motion of more than 33,000 stars and how fast they rotate in the galactic disk, taking into account the distance from the centre. The scientists then constructed a galaxy rotation curve showing how fast matter rotates at a given distance from the galaxy’s nucleus.
