- One more problem for the Big Bang: Recently-discovered
galaxy clusters reveal too much complex structure to be as "young"
as Big Bang speculations would require.
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- The small inset in the photo above shows a recently discovered
cluster of galaxies that can only add to the accumulated difficulties facing
proponents of the Big Bang.
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- According to conventional theory, which determines the
distance of a galaxy by its redshift, the cluster is 9 billion light years
away. That means the light we see today was emitted 9 billion years ago,
or only 5 billion years after the Big Bang, in which all matter and energy
supposedly was created. Gravitational forces could not have generated such
a cluster of galaxies in such an astronomically short time.
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- The ESO news release commented:
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- "The discovery of such a complex and mature structure
so early in the history of the Universe is highly surprising. Indeed, until
recently it would even have been deemed impossible."
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- Translation: This observation falsified the theory. To
save the theory (upon which grants and reputations are established) an
ad hoc patch must be found.
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- "If astronomy were a science"-as one worker
in the field put it-astronomers would have wondered if the cluster might
have been ejected from the nearby active galaxy NGC 7314 (at the center
of the large image). They would have wondered if its high redshift might
be due to that ejection instead of to an expansion of the universe. They
would have wondered if the cluster might be an early stage of galaxy cluster
formation in the near present instead of in the far past.
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- But such wondering would require them to doubt that redshift
means distance. It would require them to doubt that redshift means recessional
velocity. And if redshift does not mean distance or velocity, then the
two major pillars of Big Bang theory are undermined.
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- On the other hand, because this cluster is in the halo
of the active galaxy NGC 7314, this observation once again confirms Halton
Arp's prediction that high-redshift galaxy clusters will be found in association
with low-redshift active galaxies. Arp made this prediction many times.
In a paper on galaxy clusters, written in collaboration with amateur astronomer
David G. Russell and published in the Astrophysical Journal of March 10,
2001, Arp and Russell add more than 15 new cluster/active galaxy associations
to the list Arp has been gathering for three decades.
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- We can carry this prediction one step further. We can
predict that other complex galaxy clusters with high redshifts (perhaps
even higher than this one) will be discovered in the future. And we can
also predict that they will be found close to nearby active galaxies. Some
of them may even be found between their active parent galaxy and us.
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- The really big problem is not the discrepancy between
Big Bang theory and contrary observations but the singularity of belief
that compels astronomers to turn a blind eye to the wrong end of their
telescopes while ignoring disagreements with what they imagine they see.
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- Related Links:
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- Quasar in Front of a Galaxy: A single, undisputed quasar
falsifies the first pillar of Big Bang ideology. Link:
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- Big Bang Distortions: The underlying assumption of the
Big Bang leads to a profound distortion of galaxy sizes, making the more
"distant" galaxies artificially much larger
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- Big Bang a Big Loser in 2005: The Big Bang has lost its
theoretical foundation, which was the Doppler interpretation of redshift
(linking redshift to the stretching of light wavelengths as objects move
away from us). Link
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- Having Faith in Edwin Hubble: Cosmologists would do well
to heed the warnings of Edwin Hubble himself (the "father" of
the prevailing redshift interpretation). Link
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- Halton Arp, A Modern Day Galileo: For his discoveries,
he was denied telescope time, and now must carry on his research in Germany.
But Halton Arp's continuing research will forever change the direction
of astronomy. Link
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- Fingers of God: By placing galaxies according to redshift,
today's cosmologists have produced a map of the universe in which galaxies
stretch out in radial lines across billions of light years, improbably
pointing at the earth. Link
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- Halton Arp's Website: Technical articles are available
about quasars and galaxies and black holes, plus articles in which Halton
Arp shares personal experiences about what it is like being a maverick
in astronomy (A Symposium on Active Galactic Nuclei -- One Astronomer's
View and Working With Fred Hoyle). Link
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