Is the Universe Spinning?

[bobson]

In a study of over 15,000 galaxies by Michael Longo and co-investigators at the University of Michigan, the researchers report that spiral galaxies preferential spin clockwise or counter clockwise depending what hemisphere of the sky they are in.

Longo sampled over 15,000 galaxies in the extensive Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The galaxies extend out to little more than 600 million light-years from Earth, less than 1/20 the distance to the farthest observed galaxies to date.

Looking northward, above the plane of our Milky Way, he found that more than half of the spirals were spinning in a counterclockwise direction in the sky. This overabundance seems small, only seven percent of the total observed galaxy sample. But the odds of it being purely due to chance are a one in a million say the researchers.

If the whole universe is rotating, then an excess number of galaxies on the opposite part of the sky, below the galactic plane, should be whirling in a clockwise direction. And indeed they are according to a separate 1991 survey of 8287 spiral galaxies in the southern galactic hemisphere.

http://news.discovery.com/space/do-we-live-in-a-spinning-universe-110708.html

[renormalised]

This is in the wrong forum, Bob. Should be in the Science Forum. Plus, it's already been posted:)

In any case, if you've had one or two too many....the Universe will most certainly be spinning!!!:):P

[bobson]

Just when we thought its infinite it might not be after all?
If this is true then it opens all sort of new possibilities and theories.
Like that this Universe has end/border just like our galaxy has.
That Big Bang is local event within our Universe!
That our Universe is spinning around together with some other Universes around something else?

Why not? Just because something is so big beyond our imagination it doesn't mean it doesn't have borders and it can't be measured :)

Not that long ago man thought Earth is flat. Then Earth is center and Sun circles around us. Then Sun is center and Earth circles around Sun. Soon after we realised our solar system is part of our galaxy Milky Way. Then that there are billions of other galaxies around us and then we finally put everything into Universe. Who is to say that there are many billions of Universes within something we have to find name for and even that within something ever greater :) I always thought that could be the case :D

cheers

[bobson]

Sorry Carl, didn't know it was posted already.
Also didnt want to hurt die hard scientists with something that is at the moment just another theory.
If moderators think it doesn't belong here or it should be removed they can do so :)

[dugnsuz]

Everything seems to spinning Bob - unusual that I have never thought of 'universal spin' as a concept (cos I likes ta think!!!!).
Thanks for a thought provoking thread.
Doug

[renormalised]

It's unofficially called the Superspace...the space of all spaces. Another name for it is the omniverse.

[renormalised]

A theory is a theory....it's what diehard scientists muse about all the time:)

[renormalised]

Just because it's infinite doesn't mean it can't spin. All you will ever see is just a small section of the spin.

[renormalised]

No need for any universe to be spinning around anything. Juts because they might rotate doesn't mean they necessarily "spin" around anything else at all. They may not even move around anything. In any case, you wouldn't know if they were unless you moved outside of those universes.

[bartman]

Bob, do you know what?, that makes sense to me!......
Great thinking!
Cheers
Bartman

[TrevorW]

:nerd:Stop it, your making my head spin just reading this