The Cosmological Debate


NEWS & UPDATES:

7/29/2003: Sorry I haven't updated the news in a while. I've been working on other parts of the site plus some political writings with what little time I have. I am also in the process of making the "Further Reading and Web Links" section the main section, with this being an archived paper. With the exception of random checks for grammar & spelling, other necessary site maintenance, the addition of news stories, and the altering of certain comments, no major changes have been made to this paper in a long time. I've been devoting a lot of time to writing about stars and planets (as well as political and social issues) instead of general cosmology/astronomy. Also, I only average about 80 hits a month, accumulating about 1900 in slightly less than two years. All science news (except things directly related to this essay) will be relegated to the main section as well.

This news article involving the ongoing redshift debacle was forwarded to me by Amy:

Oct 8, 2002

UA Professor Disputes Recent Hubble Space Telescope Findings

NGC4319 and Markarian 205

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Dr. Jack Sulentic, a professor of astronomy at The University of Alabama, says a release from the Hubble Heritage incorrectly reports that there is no bridge between the famous galaxy-quasar pair NGC4319-Markarian 205.

Hubble (Space Telescope) Heritage is an organization connected with the Space Telescope Science Institute, and made its release on Oct. 3. (Webmaster's note: See heritage.stsci.edu/ for the Hubble Heritage site and http://heritage.stsci.edu/2002/23/table.html for the "official" mainstream article regarding Mark205 and NGC4319, as well as images of the pair.)

In 1983, Sulentic reported that both NGC4319 and Markarian 205 were connected, which supported a claim presented in 1972 by astronomer H.C. Arp at the Max Planck Institut fur Astrophysik, Munich, Germany.

At the time Sulentic said that “during the past 10 years, many astronomers have argued that Arp’s data had to be either incorrect or due to something other than a physical connection, since the redshift-implied distances of both objects are significantly different.”

Through image enhancement and analysis, Sulentic directly confirmed Arp’s findings of a luminous connection between the two. His evidence was based on processing Arp’s Palomar and Kitt Peak telescope images.

Sulentic performed his study at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., during a 1982 NASA summer faculty fellowship.

At the time two alternate explanations for the connection had been proposed: a foreground star or background galaxy located between galaxy NGC4319 and the Markarian 205 quasar giving the appearance of a connection or, the fuzzy edges of the two objects overlap when viewed through the telescopes.

Sulentic analyzed the light distribution in the area between the quasar and the galaxy and showed mathematically that neither theory was possible.

He stands by his finding. “The release tells us that the most recent Hubble Space Telescope images of this system do not show a connection. The papers H. Arp and I wrote have never been refuted in scientific literature. Did we make a mistake no one told us about?”

He says that a quick glance at the HST composite image reveals that the image of the galaxy-quasar pair is presented in a way that emphasizes the brightest parts of the galaxy and the quasar so that the impression is given that there is no light between the two objects.

“Our work showed that the connection was of low surface brightness,” he says. “In order to see it one would have to “burn out” the bright parts of the image and emphasize the fainter light levels. Technically speaking, the dynamic range in the image is so great that one cannot see all light levels at the same time.”

However, he says the Hubble picture actually does show the luminous connection on the web image by increasing the contrast at fainter levels.

“You can see the narrow core in the connection, which HST is able to detect because of its excellent resolution,” Sulentic says. “It is seen exactly where we found it in the earlier studies. Using the HST Heritage web data one can quickly show different versions of the image where the connection is visible. The pictures shown here clearly reveal the connection at low surface brightness levels that should enable readers to form their own judgment. Hubble Space Telescope has in fact, confirmed the earlier work.”

He says there are two independent questions on this issue. The first is does a luminous connection exist? And secondly, if a connection exists, what does it mean? Sulentic says the answer to the first question is yes.

But that opens the possibility, however remote, that the redshift of at least one of these objects is not telling us the correct distance ("Quasars, Redshifts and Controversies" H. Arp).

“There may be other less controversial interpretations as well, but even the possibility of the former may be inadmissible to some astronomers,” he says.

Sulentic teaches in the department of physics and astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences. The College of Arts and Sciences is UA’s largest division and the largest public liberal arts college in the state, with approximately 5,000 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students. The College has received national recognition for academic excellence, and A&S students have been selected for many of the nation’s top academic honors, including 15 Rhodes Scholarships, 13 Goldwater Scholarships, seven Truman Scholarships and 11 memberships on USA Today’s Academic All-American teams.



INTRODUCTION

Greetings. I have made this page to bring to everyone the views in the ongoing cosmological debate. I have long been rather ambivalent towards the Big Bang theory, the most widely accepted idea in modern cosmology--neither supporting nor totally rejecting it. For a short while, I lost interest in general cosmology. However, I finally found alternatives that got me interested in the field again. Those alternatives are plasma cosmology, founded by the late Hannes Alfvén, and the non-expanding universe scenarios of Halton C. Arp. It is here where I will address the problems with the Big Bang and go into the various concepts in and advatages of alternative theories. However, there is more than just science here. The way quite a few people in the mainstream think and the way it impacts science and scientific debate is brought to attention as well.

This site is mainly meant to report various arguements of non-mainstream cosmologists. It is not necessarily meant to be a comprehensive cosmology lecture, but to rather give a basic overview of BBT critiques and alternative theories in space sciences. The vast majority of the material presented here, especially in the first two sections, is that of other scientists--mostly Anthony Peratt, Eric Lerner, Halton Arp, and various others--but is rephrased in my own words. Most of the Ideology section and some other things (which I will designate as such) are my own work, though. Expect to find a quite a bit of mainstream science employed here as well. Though I have problems with the BBT and many ideas in theoretical physics, you can see from the main page that I am still an advocate of biological evolution, plate tectonics, and most other mainstream theories, and I'm also an ardent opponent of creationism and other pseudosciences (e.g., UFOlogy, alternative medicine).

Enjoy the site.



The Case Against the Big Bang

The Case For Plasma Cosmology

Ideology of the Debate


Back to Main Page



Other Plasma Cosmology, Non-cosmological Redshift, & Alternative Physics Sites, & BBT Critiques

The Universe - Anthony Peratt's site on plasma cosmology. Very informative, being perhaps the most extensive site devoted solely to plasma cosmology. Included is info on his computer simulations of galaxies, the Wolf Effect, and other things of interest.

Halton Arp - The website of the man who has proposed a theory that the universe might not be expanding. Not much now, as it is rather new, but more material is added all the time.

The Arrow of Time - A great site giving an overview of Ilya Prigogine's works. By Alan Woods and Ted Grant.

"Edwin Hubble... and the Myth That He Discovered the Expanding Universe" - by Vincent Sauvé. An absolute must-read showing that, contrary to popular beliefs of both the scientific community and the lay-public, Edwin Hubble actually supported the idea of a non-expanding universe.

"Some Big Bang Supporting Assertions Challenged" - The rest of Vincent Sauvé's site. Great info on the scientific and philosophical implications of the BBT. Sauvé's site appears to be supportive of the Quasi-steady State Theory.

"Why the Big Bang is Wrong" - by John Kierein.

"The Big Bang Theory Under Fire" - by William C. Mitchell.

"Big Bang: You're Dead" - by George Beckingham.

"Big Bang Cosmology Meets an Astronomical Death" - by Paul Marmet.

"Was There a Big Bang? I Honestly Don't Know" - by Richard Carrier. Update: Richard Carrier has recently recanted his anti-BBT stance. His old BBT critique is available by email only and is not to be published online. I do recommend reading his new article for purposes of finding out why he converted, though, as he points out that he also was subject to derision by mainstreamers before his conversion at the hands of more rational mainstreamers.

"The Big Bang" - by Alan Woods and Ted Grant.


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© 2002-2003

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