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From: ethan@utastro.UUCP (Ethan Vishniac)
Newsgroups: net.astro
Subject: Re: SETI; bubbles
Message-ID: <327@utastro.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 30-Jan-86 14:15:28 EST
Article-I.D.: utastro.327
Posted: Thu Jan 30 14:15:28 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 3-Feb-86 05:41:33 EST
References: <1379@bbncc5.UUCP>
Organization: U. Texas, Astronomy, Austin, TX
Lines: 28
Summary: bubbles n stuff

In article <1379@bbncc5.UUCP>, jr@bbncc5.UUCP (John Robinson) writes:
> 
> A few days ago the Boston Globe (I think) had a piece about the 3-D mapping of
> the distribution of galaxies in the universe, using standard red-shift to get
> the radial dimension, for small patches of the sky.  I am embarrassed to say I
> forget the name of the researcher, but he is at Texas.

And well you might be embarassed, since this refers to the CFA redshift survey.
[n.b. CFA= Harvard-Smithsonian Center For Astrophysics, which is in Cambridge,
less than a mile from Fresh Pond].

> My question about this is
> does it shed light on, or call into question, the big bang?  

No, it's fairly well accepted that the "Big Bang" could not have been
a perfectly smooth event, since this would preclude galaxy formation.
These inhomogeneities represent only ripples on the background of the
Hubble expansion.  Their origin is an interesting question, and these
results may give us some interesting clues.
-- 
"These are not the opinions    Ethan Vishniac
 of the administration of      {charm,ut-sally,ut-ngp,noao}!utastro!ethan
 the University of Texas,      ethan@astro.UTEXAS.EDU
 but they are the opinions     Department of Astronomy
 of your favorite deity, who   University of Texas
 is in daily communication 
 with me on this (and every 
 other) topic.