The Dark Matter bun fight continues unabated:
21 August - Dark matter is demonstrated by "direct prrof".
26 August - MOG theroy of gravity explains all known cosmology without =

need to postulate dark matter.

______________________

I can almost get the gist of the rebuttal paper if I squint heavily =

and skim the maths :-).
The really great thing is that:
    "The MOG requires that Newton=92s constant G, the coupling constant =

? that
        measures the strength of the coupling of a skew field to =

matter, and the mass
        =B5 of the skew field vary with distance and time, so that =

agreement with the
        solar system and the binary pulsar PSR 1913+16 data can be =

achieved, as
        well as fits to galaxy rotation curve data and galaxy cluster =

data."

Anything that rebuts dark matter but requires variable G as a function =

of distance and time has got to keep the universe from becoming a =

boring place. AT LEAST ONE of these theories is the equivalent of =

epicyclic planetary orbits aka pre-Copernicus / Galileo / Kepler. The =

trick is  to work out which it is - and it may be both.





        Russell






_________________________________

GRAVITATIONAL LENSING IN MODIFIED GRAVITY
AND THE LENSING OF MERGING CLUSTERS
WITHOUT DARK MATTER
J. W. Moffat
The Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Ontario, =

N2L 2Y5,
Canada
and
Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S =

1A7, Canada
Abstract
Gravitational lensing in a modified gravity (MOG) is derived and shown
to describe lensing without postulating dark matter. The recent data =

for
merging clusters identified with the interacting cluster 1E0657-56 is =

shown to
be consistent with a weak lensing construction based on MOG without =

exotic
dark matter.

    Intro page

            http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0608675

    Paper

        http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/astro-ph/pdf/0608/0608675.pdf

____________________________________________

New Scientist:

WHEN Douglas Clowe of the University of Arizona in Tucson announced on =

21 August that his team had "direct proof of dark matter's existence", =

it seemed the issue had been settled. Now proponents of the so-called =

modified theories of gravity, who explain the motion of stars and =

galaxies without resorting to dark matter, have hit back and are =

suggesting that Clowe's team has jumped the gun.
"One should not draw premature conclusions about the existence of dark =

matter without a careful analysis of alternative gravity theories," =

writes John Moffat, of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, =

who pioneered an alternative theory of gravity known as MOG =

(www.arxiv.org/astro-ph/0608675).


        http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/mg19125684.200?DCMP=3DNLC-=
nletter&nsref=3Dmg19125684.200

-- =

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