Researchers have observed a gigantic ring of galaxies flying away from the Milky Way faster than ever predicted. It seems like Andromeda once flew past the Milky Way. Some suggest that the theory of gravity of Einstein must be rewritten because of this spontaneous happening.
Like a mini Big Bang, the ring of small galaxies continues to expand, and it is now about 10 million light-year-wide. The research team from the University of St Andrews believe that Andromeda once flew past the Milky Way within a close range, producing a sling-shot of a variety of small galaxies.
Dr. Hongsheng Zha, the co-author of the study, noted that if Einstein's theory of gravity was right, our galaxy, which is the Milky Way, will never get close the Andromeda just to scatter anything at a fast phase.
According to Indranil Banik, who led the study, the distribution of these ring-like galaxies is very unusual, and the small galaxies are similar to raindrops. It is assumed that there are about 1 in 640 galaxies randomly spread in an observed way. Their origin has been traced to come from a specific occurrence when the Universe was only half of its age.
In the gravity paradigm of Einstein, the hypothetical dark matter is always invoked. A high speed requires 60 times than the mass seen in stars of Andromeda and Milky Way. But the friction in their halos will result in merging rather than flying for about 2.5 million light years apart.
Marcel Pawlowski from the University of California, Irvine also said, challenges in Science continue to progress. Especially now that these giant rings have challenged Einstein's standard gravity paradigm.