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Large-scale anisotropy in the Hubble flow

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Abstract

Detection of anisotropy in the Hubble flow is one of the outstanding problems of observational cosmology. It provides information on the mass density of the Universe and the extent to which the Universe is smooth. This, in turn, permits constraints to be placed on theoretical models of galaxy formation. Our approach to this problem has been to obtain infrared photometry for an all-sky sample of ScI-II galaxies identified by Rubin et al.1 at a mean redshift of 5,100 km s−1. At this distance these galaxies provide information on the Hubble flow well outside the Local Super-cluster. From observations of half the sample, well distributed across the sky, we find a systematic streaming velocity of these galaxies of ∼1,000 ±300 km s−1. In the context of current speculation regarding non-baryonic particle species which may dominate the mass of the Universe, such large velocities on these spatial scales appear to exclude cold dark matter models.

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Author notes

  1. C. A. Collins

    Present address: Department of Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK

  2. N. A. Robertson

    Present address: Department of Natural Philosophy, Glasgow University, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London, SW7 2BZ, UK

    C. A. Collins, R. D. Joseph & N. A. Robertson

Authors
  1. C. A. Collins
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  2. R. D. Joseph
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  3. N. A. Robertson
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Collins, C., Joseph, R. & Robertson, N. Large-scale anisotropy in the Hubble flow. Nature 320, 506–508 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/320506a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/320506a0

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