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scienceThursday, March 26, 2026 at 07:16 PM

Central Galaxies in Clusters Deviate from Standard Radial Acceleration Relation

Preprint analyzing acceleration profiles of 17 early-type galaxies via Jeans modeling finds central galaxies in clusters, subclusters, and groups deviate from the standard RAR followed by isolated and non-central galaxies, with divergence radius decreasing with group mass.

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Most galaxies follow a tight relationship known as the radial acceleration relation (RAR), which connects the gravity we observe to what we would expect from the visible stars and gas alone using Newtonian physics. However, entire galaxy clusters are known to deviate from this pattern. A new preprint on arXiv examines whether galaxies at the centers of these clusters also break the rule. Researchers looked at 17 early-type galaxies by using a method called Jeans modeling on data from their globular cluster systems, drawing from their earlier studies. This approach allows them to infer the acceleration profiles. The sample covered various types: central galaxies in large clusters, in smaller subclusters that are falling into bigger ones, in galaxy groups, as well as non-central and isolated galaxies. This is the first time subclusters' central galaxies have been included in such a test. Results show that isolated galaxies and those not at the center follow the standard RAR. In contrast, central galaxies in clusters, subclusters, and groups mostly display stronger accelerations, matching the pattern seen in clusters rather than individual galaxies. The distance from the center where this deviation starts gets smaller in more massive systems. The authors conclude that any invisible material causing this must be cold, collisionless, and not interacting like normal gas - pointing to possibilities like cold dark matter or dense cold gas clouds. This work is a preprint (not peer-reviewed) available at https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.23591. The study is limited by its small sample size of only 17 galaxies and dependence on previously collected data.

⚡ Prediction

HELIX: This suggests the invisible forces shaping galaxies might follow different rules in crowded spaces than we assumed, which could quietly reshape our big-picture understanding of the cosmos and spark fresh ideas that filter into future science and tech. For ordinary people, it’s a reminder that the universe still has surprises, nudging us toward a slightly different story of how everything fits together.

Sources (1)

  • [1]
    Deviations from the radial acceleration relation in the central galaxies of clusters, subclusters, and groups(https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.23591)