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Teenager Makes Discovery About Galaxy Distribution

Posted by samzenpus on from the all-lined-up dept.

Janek Kozicki writes "It has been long thought that dwarf galaxies orbiting Andromeda galaxy (M31), or any other galaxy for that matter, are distributed more or less randomly around the host galaxy. It seemed so obvious in fact that nobody took time to check this assumption. Until a 15-year-old student, Neil Ibata, working with his father at the astronomic observatory, wanted to check it out. It turned out that dwarf galaxies tend to be placed on a plane around M31. The finding has been published in Nature. Local press (especially in France) is ecstatic that a finding by a 15-year-old got published in Nature. However, there's another more important point: what other obvious things didn't we really bother to check?"

13 of 247 comments (clear)

  1. Working with his father... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Raises curiosity: how much work is done by this 15-old boy and how much is actually done by his father?

    1. Re:Working with his father... by slew · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Raises curiosity: how much work is done by this 15-old boy and how much is actually done by his father?

      I imagine about the same ratio as famous professors and the grad-students working under them... Don't underestimate the ideas and work that can be done by underlings. Only in this case, the underling gets the credit, in the other case, usually not so much...

    2. Re:Working with his father... by drdread66 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The kid probably did most of the coding, but used data gathered by other observations at the observatory (or even other observatories). The idea probably came from his father. This is exactly the sort of straightforward project you would assign a bright undergrad (or high school student) to do. It's relevant, mostly easy, and might possibly generate a new result. You can't ask for much more.

    3. Re:Working with his father... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Raises curiosity: how much work is done by this 15-old boy and how much is actually done by his father?

      One of 16 authors. His dad is the lead author. Not a solo effort.

    4. Re:Working with his father... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      I imagine about the same ratio as famous professors and the grad-students working under them... Don't underestimate the ideas and work that can be done by underlings. Only in this case, the underling gets the credit, in the other case, usually not so much...

      Grad students who do the work are usually lead authors on their papers.

    5. Re:Working with his father... by elfprince13 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That depends on the university and the lab. I've heard all sorts of horror stories.

    6. Re:Working with his father... by smg5266 · · Score: 5, Funny

      To make a pizza from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

    7. Re:Working with his father... by drolli · · Score: 5, Insightful

      wish i had mod points.....

      After ten years in science (i left): The position and the fact if you are mentioned on a paper as an author depends on many things. I have seen people who never ever did anything but stand in the way (intentionally, sometimes) mentioned as co-authors due to higher forces (buddying with the group leader) and i have seen how phd students who built the setup over five years somehow slipped of the authors list after they graduated and where thanked for technical help.

  2. Not *that* ecstatic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Actually, since the boy has stated in interviews that he wants to leave France and go to college abroad, the press is not that ecstatic. And at least some papers have pointed out that the boy was somehow lucky (even though he most probably is a bright kid).

  3. what other obvious things we didn't really ... by Nutria · · Score: 5, Funny

    bother to check?

    Stuff that scientists don't want to be mocked by their peers for checking.

    --
    "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
  4. Let's not get over ourselves, shall we? by Kergan · · Score: 5, Informative

    According to the French press (who actually interviewed the kid, rather than reported second hand information), he worked as an interm in his father's lab. His father assigned him stuff so as to give him the opportunity to learn how to code.

    By the kid's own admittance in those interviews, his primary interest was to learn to code; and he actually puts forward that he did. It's only later that his father and the latter's colleagues highlighted the importance of his program's findings, and they put his name forward in their article (rightly so) for having programmed the tool needed to show their hunch.

    Anyway, not discounting how bright the kid might be (because he seems to be, even though he admittedly found it necessary to ask his math teacher for information on vectors), but can we please keep a cool head with respect to what actually happened? As in, a kiddo got an internship through his father and coded stuff requested by his father, and landed his name in a scientific article courtesy of his father for having written said article?

  5. Re:link or it didn't happen by Genda · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Because the dwarf galaxies shouldn't be constrained to the galactic plane any more than globular clusters which are randomly disbursed. This suggests that there my be an unknown process that brings dwarf galaxies to the galaxy's equator... perhaps inflow of intragalactic gas or dark matter.. Makes for a interesting study.

  6. Re:link or it didn't happen by Mandrel · · Score: 5, Informative

    Because the dwarf galaxies shouldn't be constrained to the galactic plane any more than globular clusters which are randomly disbursed. This suggests that there my be an unknown process that brings dwarf galaxies to the galaxy's equator... perhaps inflow of intragalactic gas or dark matter.. Makes for a interesting study.

    The paper found that the plane of dwarf galaxies around Andromeda wasn't aligned to Andromeda's equator, but (intriguingly) was approximately the plane formed by the line between Andromeda and the Milky Way and the axis of rotation of the Milky Way.