Dwarf galaxies `not ruled by dark side`

Some basic principles of physics and astronomy have been cast into doubt by new
research involving scientists in Australia and Europe.
The researchers, including Dr Helmut Jerjen of the Australian National University,
studied dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way.
They found the galaxies were not uniformly spread around, as predicted by the
so-called dark matter theory.
"They are forming some sort of disc in the sky," Dr Jerjen said.
The dark matter theory explains some major problems in cosmology by postulating that
most of the matter in the universe is invisible.
Dr Jerjen told AAP his observations, taken from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and
interpreted in cooperation with astrophysicists at the universities of Bonn and
Vienna, did not necessarily mean the theory should be abandoned.
"I wouldn't like to say the dark matter doesn't exist," he said.
But the alternative is even more radical - abandoning Newton's theory of gravitation.
"A possible solution to this contradiction would be to reject Newton's classical
theory of gravitation," Dr Jerjen said.
"If this is true, then our observations could be explained without dark matter. This
conclusion has far-reaching consequences for fundamental physics and for
cosmological theories."
One possible consequence of modifying gravitation theory could be that black holes
do not exist.
Black holes are predicted by Einstein's general theory of relativity, which already
explains some astronomical observations not predicted by classical Newtonian theory.
But Dr Jerjen said modifications of Newton's theory, which is still commonly used by
astronomers, would also imply changes to Einstein's theory.
The changes could mean that space-time around super-massive astronomical objects
does not have the "singularity" which prevents light escaping from them.
So they may not be as black as they have been painted.