Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

GALAXIES

Is there a universal alternative to dark matter?

Dark matter is deemed essential for describing galaxy dynamics. A prominent alternative theory can make the same predictions without dark matter, by introducing a universal acceleration constant. Recent high-quality observations of galaxies are used to investigate whether this constant is really a constant.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Map of the neutral hydrogen distribution of galaxy NGC 2403 as observed by The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey (THINGS).

References

  1. Milgrom, M. Astrophys. J. 270, 365–370 (1983).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Rodrigues, D. C., Marra, V., del Popolo, A. & Davari, Z. Nat. Astron. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-018-0498-9 (2018).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bosma, A. The Distribution and Kinematics of Neutral Hydrogen in Spiral Galaxies of Various Morphological Types. PhD Thesis, Univ. Groningen (1978).

  4. Rubin, V. C., Ford, W. K. Jr & Thonnard, N. Astrophys. J. 225, L107–L111 (1978).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. McGaugh, S. S., Lelli, F. & Schombert, J. M. Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 201101 (2016).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. McGaugh, S. S. Astrophys. J. 609, 652–666 (2004).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Lelli, F., McGaugh, S. S. & Schombert, J. M. Astron. J. 152, 157 (2016).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. de Blok, W. J. G. et al. Astron. J. 136, 2648–2719 (2008).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Bottema, R. & Pestaña, J. L. G. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 448, 2566–2593 (2015).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Li, P., Lelli, F., McGaugh, S. & Schombert, J. Astron. Astrophys. 615, A3 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Walter, F. et al. Astron. J. 136, 2563–2647 (2008).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to W. J. G. de Blok.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

de Blok, W.J.G. Is there a universal alternative to dark matter?. Nat Astron 2, 615–616 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-018-0547-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-018-0547-4

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing