Part 1 of 2
Text Box: Reviewed 19 July 2009 Requests for further clarifications, to eugenesittampalam (at) gmail.com – most welcome!
Text Box: In 1977, Stephen Weinberg observed that "the theory of the formation of galaxies is one of the great outstanding problems of astrophysics, a problem that today seems far from solution" [Weinberg, S. The First Three Minutes (Collins, Glasgow, 1977)]. Although the past two decades have seen considerable progress, many questions remain. ... We live on the outer reaches of a very ordinary spiral galaxy within the Local Group, a motley collection of 40 or more (mostly small) galaxies. Our Galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy dominate this group, accounting for more than 80% of the starlight. The Local Group is but a small subset of a much larger complex of galaxies known as the Coma-Sculptor Cloud, which in turn forms a small part of the Local Supercluster. ... Clues to galaxy formation, J. Bland-Hawthorn (Anglo-Australian Observatory, Australia) Nature 400, 220-221 (15 July 1999)
Text Box: A fractal is a distribution or shape that is not homogeneous (in general), but possesses the property that each part is a simulacrum of the whole. In other words, it ‘looks’ the same on all scales. Fractals abound in nature: for example the coastline of a small peninsula drawn on paper could equally well depict a large continent... The clustering of galaxies lends itself to a fractal description, because the clumpiness prevails over a wide range of scales. The big question for cosmology is whether the distribution of matter continues to be a simple fractal beyond the scale of clusters of galaxies... Einasto et al. have suggested that Abell clusters lie in a quasiregular three-dimensional network of superclusters and voids, with regions of high density separated by about 120 h-1 Mpc. The reality of such a ‘periodicity’ in galaxy clustering should soon be revisited by two new large redshift surveys. ... Although the Universe has a fractal structure on small scales, the foregoing discussion suggests that the mass distribution approaches homogeneity on large scales... The large-scale smoothness of the Universe, Kelvin K. S. Wu and Martin J. Rees of the University of Cambridge, UK; and Ofer Lahav of The Hebrew University, Israel, Nature 397, 225-230 (21 January 1999)
Text Box: More remarkable than the mere existence of superclusters, and much harder to explain, are claims that their distribution is periodic. A compilation of some 300 galaxy clusters shows that the superclusters they define are in a lattice-like distribution with cells 430 million light-years in size (J. Einasto et al., Nature 385, 139 [1997]). This work supports an earlier result from a narrow-beam galaxy survey that measured a periodicity of about 460 million light-years along a line of sight (T. J. Broadhurst et al., Nature 343, 726 [1990]). The origin of this large-scale lattice is very hard to explain... The best new galaxy surveys are, however, only just starting to probe supercluster scales. ... Superclusters – the Largest Structures in the Universe? Michael Drinkwater (School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), Science 287, 1217-1218 (18 February 2000)
Text Box: The observable universe is an extension in three-dimensional space and one-dimensional time ...extending to beyond man's observational means. This universe of ours is dotted with enormous nuclear centers, or “COSMIC CORES,” where fusion of matter prevails. The extremely dense Cosmic Cores are akin to atomic nuclei in a stable yet vibrant solid medium. The Cores thus form the absolute (or preferred) frame of reference in our world of observation, where the Cores are the "rest" points. This makes the space and time of the Cosmic Background Radiation (CBR), in effect, the Newtonian absolute space and absolute time, respectively. Mass-energy is continually exchanged (recycled) between these Cores of the cosmic latticework in an unending saga of “little big bangs” and “little big crunches” at the Cores. We inhabit a relatively placid region surrounded by, but far removed from, Cosmic Cores. (We would not have evolved to the stage that we have in a region close to a Core: The violence and the intensity of the radiation would be far too great and the time scale far too small for most life forms, let alone for the current stage of their evolution.) Each Cosmic Core accretes matter only to fuse it (in a slow crunch) and eject it out (in a hasty bang). The Cosmic Cores thus incessantly feed each other in a now observable steady-state universe. For a fuller text, please see Synopsis, link below.
Text Box: We present a study of the shape, size, and spatial orientation of superclusters of galaxies. Approximating superclusters by triaxial ellipsoids we show that superclusters are flattened, triaxial objects. We find that there are no spherical superclusters. The sizes of superclusters grow with their richness: the median semi-major axis of rich and poor superclusters (having ≥ 8 and < 8 member clusters) is 42 and 31 h-1 Mpc, respectively. Similarly, the median semi-minor axis is 12 and 5 h-1 Mpc for rich and poor superclusters. The spatial orientation of superclusters, as determined from the axes of ellipsoids, is nearly random. We do not detect any preferable orientation of superclusters, neither with respect to the line of sight, nor relative to some other outstanding feature in the large scale structure, nor with respect to the directions of principal axes of adjacent superclusters. ... The supercluster-void network IV. The shape and orientation of superclusters, Jaak Jaaniste (Tartu Observatory, Estonia) et al., Astronomy & Astrophysics 336, 35-43 (7 July 1998)
Text Box: Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are among the most fascinating and puzzling structures in space. An AGN packs the energy output of an entire galaxy of stars into a region smaller than the solar system. ... How AGNs form and what drives them are puzzles. But scientists are getting a closer look at the jets and how they change over time from the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) Space Observatory Programme (VSOP)... Knotted Jets and Odd Quasars Reveal Secrets by Radio, Dennis Normile, Science 287, 1195-1196 (18 February 2000)
Text Box: Although a wide variety of astrophysical objects produce powerful jets, we still lack a comprehensive theory of their formation. …Despite the ubiquity of jets, there is no generally accepted theory for the mechanism of their acceleration and alignment. .. The jets set, Mario Livio (Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD), Nature 417, 125 (9 May 2002)
Text Box: Quasars are much more numerous around these nearby active galaxies, and quite often they seem to be connected to them by luminous bridges and filaments. Moreover, studies carried out in the 1990s indicate that the redshifts of these quasars cluster around certain periodic values. All this is impossible to explain in the conventional view of big bang cosmology. … New Results Reawaken Quasar Distance Dispute, Govert Schilling, Science 298, 345 (11 October 2002)
Text Box: The highly fused ejectum from the Cosmic Core expands in an arc as it speeds away from the center at or above escape velocity. We see this early stage of cosmic evolution as a close group of quasars – the progenitor of the galaxy supercluster. (Even if it be outside our field of study, do we not ever wonder why galaxy clusters are periodic and fly in formation at mind-boggling speed – our Local Group, for instance, at six hundred kilometers per second, or more than a million miles per hour?!) Quasars and their ilk are collectively known today as active galactic nuclei (AGN). They are the greatest nuclear reactors of all next to Cosmic Cores. Detected today ever increasingly by modern instruments, AGNs brilliantly dot enormous cloud complexes that are but the time images of incipient galaxy superclusters. Nuclear fission is enhanced by low (absolute) pressure, just as much as fusion is promoted by high pressure (see The Galaxy, link below). The high speed of expulsion from the Cosmic Core takes the ejected nuclear matter into the thinning outer regions. Deceleration quickly sets in. In the yet high-speed ejectum, each large lump, which is the quasar, splits into halves in succession in the rarefying space. The process of bifurcation of the quasar goes on until the fragments – individual galactic nuclei – come within the size limit determined by the regional field pressure the nuclear lumps are engulfed in. The single quasar thus splits successively and evolves into – the galaxy cluster. And the single Core ejectum, generally consisting of a group of quasars, transmutes as – the galaxy supercluster. The supercluster is thus a fast moving shell of matter expanding radially from its Core of origin. Distant superclusters will thus appear as if to be perched on enormous bubble-like voids.
Text Box: ... the CBR [cosmic background radiation] is hotter in the general direction of the constellations Hydra and Centaurus, by about 3.4 mK, and cooler in the opposite direction by the same amount (Fig. 6 [not reproduced here]). The simplest, and now standard, interpretation is that our galaxy is moving with respect to the "cosmic rest frame" at a speed of about 620 km s-1 (COBE detected a much smaller year modulation of the same kind arising from Earth’s motion around the sun at 30 km s-1; this should convince any remaining "geocentrists" that the Earth does indeed move!). ... Why is the Temperature of the Universe 2.726 Kelvin? M. S. Turner (Depts of Physics and of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago), Science 262, 861-866 (5 November 1993)
Text Box: During the past two decades, catalogs of galaxies mapping the universe in three dimensions have been compiled. … Comparison of the galaxy positions in the southern slices of the Las Campanas catalog with the first slice of the Center of Astrophysics second survey (CfA2) shows the "beginning of the end": Although we can see the same structures (walls, filaments, and voids) in the Las Campanas slice as in the CfA2 catalog, we do not see similar structures of larger size than those in the CfA2 sample. In a fractal pattern, the size of these structures should be larger for the deeper slice. This diagram would thus suggest that homogeneity is being reached at larger scales. ... Is the Universe Fractal? Vincent J. Martinez (Dept of d'Astronomia i Astrofisica, Universitat de València, Spain), Science 284, 445-446 (16 April 1999)
Text Box: It also marks the first time that astronomers have clearly extended their vision far beyond the largest coherent groups of galaxies that exist, known as superclusters. "We've seen the end of the biggest structures in the universe," says team member Karl Glazebrook of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. ... The survey [the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey], named for the Two-Degree Field spectrograph at the 3.9-meter Anglo-Australian Telescope in New South Wales, Australia, sees hundreds of superclusters with typical sizes of 200 million light-years across. The first such structure, the famed "Great Wall," surfaced in the 1980s... Since then, more extensive surveys have seen filaments of similar size, notably the Las Campanas Redshift Survey at the Carnegie Observatories in Chile. That survey of 25,000 galaxies, completed in 1994, suggested that superclusters did not grow larger on ever-grander scales. "The 2dF maps confirm and strengthen that qualitative conclusion," says astrophysicist David Weinberg of Ohio State University in Columbus. ... Galaxy Survey Surpasses the Biggest Clusters, American Astronomical Society's 196th meeting, Rochester, New York; reported in News Focus, Science 288, 2122-2123 (23 June 2000)
          Go to Part 2 of 2
THE UNIFICATION OF PHYSICS ILLUSTRATIONS
A Synopsis The Cosmos The Spin
ADDENDA The Cosmological Redshift The Neutrino
Two-Slit Tests The Galaxy Nuclear Reactions
NASA Tests Gravity The Sun
KamLAND Test Anti-Gravity The Pulsar
UCLA Test Relativity Superconductivity
Q and A Mass-Energy Fusion Energy
 Eugene Sittampalam
 19 July 2009