Process / pipelineGalactic dynamics
Rotation Curve Analysis
Galaxy rotation curve analysis is the technique of measuring how orbital velocities change with distance from the center of a galaxy. Pioneered by Vera Rubin and W. Kent Ford Jr. in 1970, rotation curves revealed one of astronomy's great mysteries: galaxies rotate too fast to be held together by their visible stars alone, providing direct evidence for dark matter.
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Sources
- Vera C. Rubin & W. Kent Ford Jr. (1970). Rotation of the Andromeda Nebula from a Spectroscopic Survey of Emission Regions. Astrophysical Journal, 159, 379-403. DOI: 10.1086/150317 ↗
- Flores, R. A., & Primack, J. R. (1994). Structure and dynamics of galactic dark matter halos. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 427(1), L1-L4. DOI: 10.1086/187350 ↗
- Sofue, Y., Tutui, Y., Honma, M., et al. (2001). Central and dark matter rotation curves of spiral galaxies. Astrophysical Journal, 547(2), 712-726. DOI: 10.1086/318895 ↗