"A Cosmic Conundrum"

A simple survey yields a cosmic conundrum.
Public release date: 31-Jul-2006
"Santa Cruz, CA -- A survey of galaxies observed along the sightlines
to quasars and gamma-ray bursts--both extremely luminous, distant
objects--has revealed a puzzling inconsistency. Galaxies appear to be
four times more common in the direction of gamma-ray bursts than in the
direction of quasars.
"Quasars are thought to be powered by accretion of material onto
supermassive black holes in the centers of distant galaxies. Gamma-ray
bursts, the death throes of massive stars, are the most energetic
explosions in the universe. But there is no reason to expect galaxies
in the foreground to have any association with these background light
sources.
"The result contradicts our basic concepts of cosmology, and we are
struggling to explain it,' said Jason X. Prochaska, associate professor
of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California, Santa
Cruz."
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-ass073106.php


Bob Clark

wrote:
A simple survey yields a cosmic conundrum.
Public release date: 31-Jul-2006
"Santa Cruz, CA -- A survey of galaxies observed along the sightlines
to quasars and gamma-ray bursts--both extremely luminous, distant
objects--has revealed a puzzling inconsistency. Galaxies appear to be
four times more common in the direction of gamma-ray bursts than in the
direction of quasars.
"Quasars are thought to be powered by accretion of material onto
supermassive black holes in the centers of distant galaxies. Gamma-ray
bursts, the death throes of massive stars, are the most energetic
explosions in the universe. But there is no reason to expect galaxies
in the foreground to have any association with these background light
sources.
"The result contradicts our basic concepts of cosmology, and we are
struggling to explain it,' said Jason X. Prochaska, associate professor
of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California, Santa
Cruz."
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-ass073106.php


Bob Clark

I believe filamentary structures have been observed at large scales.
Might we be looking down their lengths??
MadDog