SEEING RED

SEEING RED

Astronomers have observed spectral differences in the light frequencies toward the red end of the spectrum for objects beyond our solar system, and those obsereved in the laboratory. This is a fact, but what follows is not. Theorists think that an expanding universe is the best interpretation for these so-called "redshifts" (a somewhat theory-laden term). This explanation implies there was an explosive beginning to the Universe, dubbed the Big Bang. If any objects in the universe were found not to be flying outward from this primal explosion, it would call into question the idea of the Big Bang. Halton Arp thinks he has found such objects.

Arp graduated from Harvard College cum laude, and earned a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology, also cum laude. He has received numerous awards for his observational work on quasars and galaxies. Unfortunately for him, he began to realize that the redshifts astronomers had observed for quasars may not be due to velocity outward from the primal explosion. This threatened the Big Bang theory. Mt. Palomar colleagues warned him not to pursue this line of investigation.⁽¹⁾ He persisted and suddenly found himself cut off from telescope time at Mt. Wilson, Mt. Palomar, and at Los Companos, Chile. This was a death blow to any further research at his position.

Arp ended up leaving the United States to join the staff of the Max Plank Institute for Physics and Astrophysics in Munich, Germany. He has written two books, Quasars, Redshifts, and Controversies (1987), and Seeing Red: Redshifts, Cosmology and Academic Science(1998). These show his observations and explain his conclusions, which confirm that some redshifts are not due to velocity. The latter book also tells about how establishment scientists control the interpretation of astronomical data to fit the uniformitarian scenario (pp. 21-22) .

An example of controlling data interpretation occurred at the three-yearly meeting of the International Astronomical Union in Holland in 1994. At the symposium on the Big Bang, researchers had, at best, fifteen or twenty minutes for presenting new observations. As usual, an authority had the better part of an hour to give a summary of the state of the art, even though everyone knew it. "Clearly," Arp wrote, "the main purpose of these `review of the theory talks' was to fix firmly in everyone's mind what the party line was so that all observations could be interpreted properly." Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal of England, gave this review. Later, at a panel meeting, Rees attacked Arp's latest research. Arp replied, giving even more evidence of objects that contradicted conventional models. A Dutch journalist, Govert Schilling, rose to ask Rees why, in view of Arp's findings, major facilities were not being used to further observe these objects. Arp reports that Rees "turned toward me and erupted in a vitriolic personal attack." It stunned him and probably the audience, too.

Arp's story is not an isolated one. An organized group of scientists is challenging the Big Bang, but like Arp, the "main stream" scientists marginalized them. ⁽²⁾ Click here for their website

Geoffrey Burbridge and Adelaide Hewitt were able to publicize the redshift problem in a popular astronomy magazine. They report that "Quite a number of bright QSOs [Quasi-Stellar Objects] lie close to relatively bright, nearby galaxies (nearer than several hundred million light-years) that have much lower redshifts. This statistical evidence, and signs of optical or radio connections between galaxy and QSO, lead us to conclude that they are physically associated. . . .Contrary to what you are often told, the statistical evidence for association is well documented and has held up since the first proper analysis of QSOs in the 3C catalog was made in 1971."

"Thus for us the only conclusion that can be drawn is that at least some QSOs are relatively nearby, and that a large fraction of their redshift is due to something other than the expansion of the universe." ⁽³⁾

REFERENCES

1. M. Mitchell Waldrop, "Astronomer May Be Barred from Telescopes," Science 215:1214 (1982).

2. The Natural Philosophy Alliance calls itself "the world's largest organized group of critics of modern physics and cosmology." It can be contacted at P.O. Box 14014, San Luis Obispo, California, 93406.

3. G. Burbridge and A. Hewitt, "A Catalog of Quasars Near and Far," Sky and Telescope (December, 1994) pp. 33 and 34, respectively.