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From: nather@utastro.UUCP (Ed Nather)
Newsgroups: net.astro.expert
Subject: Re: Where's the center of the universe?
Message-ID: <144@utastro.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 26-May-85 15:11:14 EDT
Article-I.D.: utastro.144
Posted: Sun May 26 15:11:14 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 30-May-85 07:21:49 EDT
References: <1544@amdahl.UUCP> <5869@duke.UUCP> <514@x.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: U. Texas, Astronomy, Austin, TX
Lines: 31

> > In article <1544@amdahl.UUCP> gam@amdahl.UUCP (G A Moffett) writes:
> > >If the Universe is expanding from a common point, where is that
> > >point?  In particular, in what area of our sky is the direction
> > >of this point?
> >
> > Someone better qualified than I will probably give a wonderful technical
> > explanation, but in the mean time....
> > 
> > The big bang background radiation (i.e. 3degK microwave flux) appears to
> > be evenly distributed around the sky in all directions; that is, there
> > is no stronger point in any direction.  This could be interpreted to
> > mean that *we* are at the centre of the universe (and I'm surprized that
> > no Creationist has picked that one up.)
> > 
> Well, not quite.  It is, in fact, a tad warmer in the rough direction of
> Saggitarius, which is therefore the center.  The difference is extremely
> small, so it took some time to detect it.
> -- 
> John Woods, Charles River Data Systems, Framingham MA, (617) 626-1101

Hardly.  The "tad warmer" is, in fact, more in the direction of the giant
cluster of galaxies in Virgo than anywhere else.  It indicates gravity still
works at vast distances, and we are falling into (or around) that massive
collection of matter.  The spectacular uniformity of the 3 Kelvins radiation
from the "Big Bang" is the best evidence we have that the "center of the 
Universe" is inaccessible to us, trapped in our measley 4 dimensions as we are.

-- 
Ed Nather
Astronony Dept, U of Texas @ Austin
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