Are Quasars Really THAT Far Away?

Are Quasars Really THAT Far Away?

The red shifts of light from quasars are so large, it is commonly
believed that quasars are a great distance away. Yet some vary in light
output within a very short time. These quasars must be small enough
that the variations can occur across the quasar without breaking the
speed of light, yet produce enough luminous energy that they can still
be seen from that great a distance. A bit of a stretch of the laws of
physics. Another problem with this theory is the great distance also
implies a great antiquity. Where are the recent quasars? Are we to
believe that the quasar is some ancient mythological beast that only
existed in a distant galaxy a long time ago?


Another explanation for the large red shifts is that they arise from
passing through gravity wells along the way, instead of distance alone.
The trouble with this theory, is that the shifting from gravity wells
doesn't seem to be enough to explain the amount of the red shift
involved.


But what if the light did not simply pass by the gravity source?

As light shines on a black hole, some drops straight in past the event
horizon, never to be seen again. But as Einstein has shown, gravity can
bend light. So some of the light trying to pass by gets dragged into
the black hole on a spiral trajectory. Other light only gets bent
slightly, as it grazes the gravity well before continuing on its way.
This is known as gravitational lensing.


What if the light looped around the gravity well?

It is reasonable to assume, some of the light will neither pass by, nor
get dragged in, but will instead orbit the black hole like an object
would.

It is also reasonable to assume that some of the light will take a path
in between normal gravitational lensing and permanent orbiting. This
light will actually loop around the black hole. It will also be more
drastically red shifted from passing closer to the black hole and for a
longer time than during normal gravitational lensing. The light may
even orbit awhile before escaping, red shifting it even more. This
extreme gravitational lensing causes the black hole's gravity well to
act as a gravitational mirror, reflecting light at multiple angles.


This theory accounts for the large red shifts of quasars without the
need to assume their great distance, energy output, or antiquity. In
addition it suggest that most quasars could simply be reflections of
ordinary stars located anywhere within telescope range, even,
surprisingly, behind the observer, as the light could loop back a full
180 degrees from the reflecting black hole.



http://freeearth.org/samples/index.p...e=altastronomy