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Spiral galaxies as enantiomers: Chirality, an underlying feature in chemistry and astrophysics
Author(s) -
Capozziello Salvatore,
Lattanzi Alessandra
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
chirality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.43
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1520-636X
pISSN - 0899-0042
DOI - 10.1002/chir.20215
Subject(s) - chirality (physics) , enantiomer , chemistry , astrophysics , spiral (railway) , galaxy , spiral galaxy , barred spiral galaxy , physics , stereochemistry , elliptical galaxy , lenticular galaxy , quantum chromodynamics , chiral symmetry , quantum mechanics , mathematical analysis , mathematics , nambu–jona lasinio model
Spiral galaxies are axisymmetric objects showing 2D chirality when projected onto a plane. Features in common with tetrahedral molecules are pointed out, in particular the existence of a preferred chiral modality for genetic galaxies as in amino acids and sugars. Environmental effects can influence the intrinsic chirality of originally isolated stellar systems so that a progressive loss of chirality is recognized in the Hubble morphological sequence of galaxies. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. Chirality