is it possible that galaxies rotate around a center, whether it be a mega black hole or a form of dark matter?

Question

moons rotate around planets, planets rotate around suns, suns rotate around black holes and could it be that galaxies follow the same train of logic? the scale and distance involved with galaxies may be the reason why we would not have seen this yet, it could also put us in the right direction toward explaining this dark matter. Dark matter is basically scientist's way of saying something is out there, we just don't know what.

Answer 1

Here is the actual answer: Planets rotate around the sun, the sun rotates around the centre of our galaxy (which is a huge black hole) and our galaxy is part of a group of bound galaxies (the Local Group) that are all moving together towards a single location known as the Great Attractor (some huge galaxy cluster). Essentially hundreds of galaxies stick together in clusters and there are even some superclusters which are cluster of clusters. These clusters form a web along concentrations of dark matter and form the Cosmic Web (look it up). On the largest scales the universe looks like a spider's web!

Answer 2

The sun represents 98% of the mass of the solar system so it's natural that everything rotates around it. The Earth is almost 100 times more massive then the moon. With the galaxy however the black hole at the center of it is about a billion suns worth which only represents a pitiful 1/200th of the toal mass. Dark matter was inferred because the galaxies rotate around each other in clusters where their angular momentum is much greater than their weights and distances could account for. Thus it's assumed that there is dark matter either in the galaxies or between them that would account for this. Yes, it's scientists way of saying that something is happening which doesn't fit in with our model of the universe.

Answer 3

Spiral galaxies rotate. Most (but not all) of them also have supermassive black holes at the center. Even with this, the rate at which stars revolve around the center shows that there is additional mass that is distributed throughout the galaxy and not just at the center.

Furthermore, elliptical galaxies do not rotate in the simple way that spiral galaxies do. They also often have black holes at the center, but also show the existence of mass that is more distributed.

In both cases, we call this extra mass dark matter. We know from other considerations that it is not made of protons and neutrons and so is not at all like ordinary matter. We have been able to map out where this dark matter is in a few situations using the way light bends as it goes past matter.

Answer 4

In fact galaxies do rotate around a central point. And, in the center of our Galaxy it is suggested that there is in fact a black hole. No Joke. For more information on the subject do a search on the Internet for:

Curious About Astronomy

When you do that, you will get a listing for a site developed by Cornell University. Check it out, and I think you will find all of your questions answered in depth with many photos to go along with the explanations.

Answer 5

As aformentioned, it is EXTREMELY possible, and probable, and pretty much face value these days, that galaxies DO rotate around a centre, whether that is a supermassive black hole or a centre of congregated dark matter.

Scientists speculate that we have a "small" supermassive black hole in the centre of our Milky Way Galaxy, and that there are other larger ones in such galaxies as Andromeda, our closest neighbor (approx 2.5 mil. LYs away).

We know this because of shifting light coming from the centre of our galaxy which corresponds to the same shifting as with a black hole.

"Direct Doppler measures of water masers surrounding the nucleus of nearby galaxies have revealed a very fast keplerian motion, only possible with a high concentration of matter in the center. Currently, the only known objects that can pack enough matter in such a small space are black holes, or things that will evolve into black holes within astrophysically short timescales."

Hope this helps. It is incredibly fascinating and makes me happy inside. =)

Answer 6

I suppose it's possible, but it isn't at all likely. All the observed galaxies exhibit expansive, not rotary, motion. This means that for your proposed rotary motion to work, a new entirely counterintuitive physical theory bigger than QFT or general relativity has to be written to justify it.

I suggest you catch up on the current state of dark matter research. The gravitational effects of dark matter have been observed, and we have located particular regions of space in which dark matter must lie using these gravitational effects. I don't think the lengths to which you are going to explain dark matter are necessary.

Answer 7

i think it has been proven that our galaxies do revolve around a central point but i dont know what it is..our galaxy revolves around a supermassive black hole but i cant imagine what could be larger than that.....dark matter does not have enough of a gravitational effect to account for it...

Answer 8

Misto is correct. It has actually been proven that a supermassive black hole lies within the center of most if not all galaxies.

Answer 9

Until we know for sure, anything's possible.