1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 621: Astronomy Crisis! Disappearing Mass! Invisible Matter! No One Can Solve It! Astronomica

Chapter 621: Astronomy Crisis! Disappearing Mass! Invisible Matter! No One Can Solve It! Astronomical Census?

The young scholar Oort from the Netherlands made an overnight success.

Originally, people were not interested in the movement of the Milky Way.

But the other party discovered an incredible problem.

The theoretical spin speed calculated according to the law of universal gravitation is only one-fifth of the measured spin speed?

Although the astronomical community claims that as long as the data error does not exceed one order of magnitude, it is within a reasonable range.

But that's some specific parameters or areas of expertise.

As early as Newton's time, calculations of celestial body orbits could be made with accuracy down to the meter level.

For example, the famous problem of Mercury's precession made the bigwigs doubt the law of universal gravitation just because the difference between theory and practice was 0.78%.

Now, the difference between the theoretical and actual results of the Milky Way's spin speed is 400%! (250-50)/50
This is definitely not something that can be explained by error.

One can imagine the shock of the astronomy experts present.

After all, it is because mechanics is an extremely precise and rigorous subject.

Even on a scale as large as the universe, the calculated speed should not have such a large error.

Although the emergence of general relativity proved the defects of the law of universal gravitation, it does not mean that the latter has been abandoned.

On the contrary, when astronomers calculate the orbits of celestial bodies, they still often use the law of universal gravitation rather than the obscure general law.

As for the slight error in the law of universal gravitation compared to the general law, it is completely within the acceptable range.

It is just like in the low-speed macroscopic field, we still use the three laws of Newtonian mechanics to solve problems.

Therefore, the problem discovered by Ort must be taken seriously!
When a big shot suspected that this might be an isolated case caused by some unknown reason, a young man stood up.

"I can prove that Dr. Ort's discovery was not accidental."

"Professor Eddington, my speaking order is fifth."

“But the content of my report is very close to Dr. Ort’s and can prove that his findings are not unique.”

"So I ask that my speech be moved up in order."

Wow!
Everyone was shocked!
Isn't Ort's research an isolated case?
Now the problem is a bit serious.

Upon hearing this, Eddington quickly looked at the contents on his hand card and found the information of the fifth reporter.

After discussing quietly with Li Qiwei, Hai Er and other big guys, he made a decision.

He took prompt action, walked onto the stage, and presided over the meeting in an orderly manner:

"Everyone, I just discussed with Chairman Haier and others. In view of Dr. Ort's important discovery, we think we can finish talking about the same content first and then discuss it."

The audience nodded in agreement.

It's just a change of order. It doesn't harm anyone's interests and has no major impact.

Eddington breathed a sigh of relief. It was indeed tiring to host such a high-level academic conference.

Even if it is just a small matter, it should be handled appropriately.

Then, he looked at the young man who had just spoken and said with a smile:

"Hello, Dr. Zwicky."

“Please come to the stage and share your research results.”

call!
Zwicky adjusted his breathing and walked onto the podium with determination.

Eddington introduced his personal resume on the side.

Zwicky, 27, graduated with a bachelor's degree and a doctorate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and is an alumnus of Einstein.

Like Oort, he went to the United States to study after graduation and worked at the Palomar Observatory.

In real history, Zwicky not only proposed the concept of supernova explosion, but was also closely related to another achievement.

At this moment, although he was just a rookie, he was beginning to show his brilliance.

After reading Zwicky's detailed profile, Eddington couldn't help but share a piece of explosive information about him with everyone:

"Dr. Zwicky once published a paper questioning Professor Hubble's use of galaxy redshift to explain the expansion of the universe."

"He believed that the red shift was caused by the energy loss of photons when they reached the Earth due to the existence of the gravitational field."

Wow!
There were many exclamations in the venue!
"I remember now. I've read this paper. I didn't expect to meet the author in person today."

"It's true that a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger. Young people are very brave!"

"This kid has something."

Although Zwicky's explanation was not accepted by the mainstream astronomical community.

But this does not affect everyone's appreciation of this young man.

Zwicky himself was a little embarrassed.

After he came on stage, he nodded and smiled at Ort who was not far away.

Soon, the two of them will fight side by side on the stage and face the questioning of the big guys.

Soon, Zwicky calmed down and said:
"The topic of my report is about the research on galaxy mass measurement."

"Everyone, please take a look."

"The galaxy I studied is located in the constellation Coma Berenices (one of the 88 galaxies)."

"And it's not a single galaxy, but more like the large-scale structure and galaxy aggregation that Professor Bruce and Professor Hubble talked about."

"Let's call it a galaxy cluster for now."

"According to distance measurements, this galaxy cluster is more than 1 million light-years away from Earth."

"Although they are very far away, the brightest galaxies can be seen by even amateur astronomers using a 20-centimeter telescope."

Everyone became interested.

Currently, there are relatively few cases in the astronomical community that specifically study galaxy clusters.

(Note: The names and divisions of galaxy groups, galaxy clusters, and superclusters are not so strict, and they do not necessarily progress in order of size. Many of them are customary names left over from history.)
"One of my research goals is to estimate the mass of this galaxy cluster."

"As Dr. Oort just said, there are two ways to estimate the mass of a galaxy."

"The first is the astral method."

"By measuring the luminosity of a galaxy, we can roughly estimate how many stars the galaxy contains."

"Based on the characteristics of the largest proportion of stellar mass, we can estimate the mass of the galaxy."

"The second is the gravity method."

"By measuring the motion of a galaxy, we can work backwards to figure out the mass we need."

"These are two completely independent approaches that work equally well for galaxy clusters."

"Logically, the masses of galaxy clusters calculated by these two methods should not differ too much."

"But my findings were very unexpected."

"Everyone, please look at this."

"The mass of the galaxy cluster measured by the gravitational method is 50 times higher than that measured by the starlight method!"

"I can guarantee that I have verified the entire calculation process dozens of times and there will be no mistakes."

"That's why I said Dr. Ort's discovery is not an isolated case."

"This mass error phenomenon exists not only within galaxies, but also in galaxy clusters!"

boom!
There was a burst of exclamations in the meeting hall!
Everyone was shocked!

The similar research and identical results of two consecutive people made the situation confusing.

There is absolutely no way to use special cases to try to circumvent this incredible problem.

"Wonderful!"

"fantastic!"

“I never thought that such a shocking result could be produced in the most traditional field of celestial sports!”

"I have a feeling this will be an incredible discovery!"

Hale, Hubble and other big names were equally amazed.

The core of both reports points directly to the concept of "quality".

Zwicky used two methods to calculate the mass of the Coma Cluster, which differed by a factor of 50. Oort used the starlight method to measure the mass of the Milky Way, and then calculated the spin speed theoretically, which was only one-fifth of the measured speed.

In fact, this is equivalent to the fact that the mass of the Milky Way calculated by the starlight method and the gravity method differs by 5 times.

One is 5 times, the other is 50 times, both are far beyond the error range.

It's really unbelievable.

In the scientific world, the more basic something is, the more terrible it is when something goes wrong!
It means that there is a problem with the foundation of the discipline.

A big shot sighed:

"Isn't this a crisis in the field of astronomy?"

There was no need for Eddington to host the event; the crowd immediately went wild and raised questions.

Someone asked:

"Have you ever considered the mass-increase effect of special relativity?"

Ort replied:
"I've thought about it."

"The measured spin speed of the Milky Way is 250 km/s, which is only one thousandth of the speed of light."

"At this speed, relativistic effects cannot produce a mass error of 5 times."

Everyone nodded, this answer was fine.

Subsequently, many people proposed various possibilities, but they were all resolved one by one by Ort and Zwicky.

At this time, Yu Qingsong suddenly said:

"Could it be that the distribution of matter in the galaxy is not what we thought?"

"Both Dr. Oort and Dr. Zwicky assume that stars make up more than 99 percent of the mass in a galaxy."

"So you can use the mass of stars to represent the mass of the galaxy."

"But there are also various celestial bodies such as dust, gas clouds, planets, neutron stars, black holes, etc. in the universe."

"These material entities cannot emit [visible light], so they cannot be included in the astral law."

"But the gravitational method includes these masses, so it introduces errors."

"If we take into account these invisible objects, it will make sense."

"So maybe we need to do a census of the universe to see what proportion of each type of object actually is present."

Wow!
Everyone exclaimed immediately!

Yu Qingsong's answer is obviously well-founded and highly credible.

Although the Sun accounts for more than 99% of the mass in the solar system, it does not mean that this is the case for all star systems.

For a moment, everyone was talking about it.

Ort and Zwicky were suddenly speechless.

It was difficult for the two to answer this question because no one had measured it and could not prove it.

However, Shapley had a different opinion.

"Dr. Yu Qingsong overlooked a problem."

"The error in mass for the Milky Way is a factor of 5, and for the Coma Cluster it is a factor of 50."

"Assuming that Dr. Yu is correct, there is still known but non-luminous matter in the galaxy that occupies more mass."

"So do we have reason to think that this distribution should be similar across galaxies?"

"This is true for the Milky Way, and it should be true for the Andromeda Galaxy as well."

"So, a cluster of galaxies, which is made up of many galaxies, should behave, on average, like a single galaxy."

"As for the matter in the space between the two galaxies, its density is so low that it can be completely ignored."

"That is to say, if the invisible matter is taken into account, the mass error of the galaxy cluster should be about 5 times, not 50 times."

Wow!
Everyone nodded, there was nothing wrong with Shapley's idea.

Previous observational data have shown that although there are many differences between galaxies, they are relatively uniform on a large scale.

It is unlikely that one galaxy would have 1% of stars and another galaxy would have 99% of stars.

After listening to this, Yu Qingsong frowned slightly, as if thinking about something.

He acknowledged Shapley's questioning.

5 times and 50 times are already orders of magnitude difference and cannot be ignored.

My own guess cannot explain the differences between galaxy clusters and galaxies.

Ort and Zwicky looked at each other. They deeply felt the distance between themselves and the top talents and bigwigs.

This kind of intellectual confrontation is so exciting!
Shapley then added:

"In addition, I have compiled in detail the distribution of celestial bodies within 3,000 light years of Earth."

"Even if we take into account gas, dust, unknown celestial bodies, etc., stars still account for more than 95%."

"By analogy, we can use stellar mass as a proxy for galaxy mass with high confidence."

Wow!
The last blow was a decisive blow!

Within such a small range of three thousand light years, even if some celestial bodies do not emit light, they are relatively easy to measure.

There is nothing wrong with the logic of starting from small to large.

Of course, this does not mean that Yu Qingsong is definitely wrong.

Perhaps there is an incredible celestial body at the center of the Milky Way, whose mass alone accounts for 50% of the entire Milky Way.

Scientists later discovered that there is indeed a super-giant black hole at the center of the Milky Way: Sagittarius A.

But its mass is only more than 400 million times that of the sun, which is still negligible compared with the hundreds of billions of stars in the galaxy.

So, overall, Shapley was right.

Everyone was filled with emotion.

"Shapley is indeed a veteran genius with a profound background."

"It's not something a young man like Yu Qingsong can compare to."

Shapley himself didn't have any big reaction and just smiled at Yu Qingsong.

For him, these are the results of time accumulation.

In order to prepare for the debate of the century, he stayed up all night and studied a lot of information.

Everything about the Milky Way is at your fingertips.

Yu Qingsong was not disappointed at all, but looked excited instead.

In his opinion, fighting with Shapley was more important than listening to Professor Li's teachings.

The latter is a crushing defeat without any ability to resist, while the former is just slightly higher than his limit and can squeeze out his full potential.

Yu Qingsong encouraged himself:

“Astronomy becomes more popular as you get older.”

"No hurry, I'm still young."

Ort and Zwicky on the stage could only smile at each other awkwardly.

They finally got a feel for what it was like to debate in the Supreme Council.

The two of them were completely unable to get a word in.

The most important thing is that Shapley is not yet the top boss, and many people in the front row have not spoken yet.

Ort said with longing:

"At this moment, if Professor Bruce could possess me, I would be able to sweep through the crowd and suppress everything!"

"I'd be willing to live one year less!"

However, he didn't feel much psychological pressure.

Ort and Zwicky had just reached an understanding.