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Astronomical Analyses

Indications that Spectrographic Measurements Overstate Radial Velocity of Local Stars

While CDM models of galaxies and MOND predict flat rotation curves, it is observed that the local gradient of the rotation curve is not flat. We consider whether flat rotation curves could be an artifact of an unmodelled component in spectral shift. In the absence of astrometric determinations of radial velocity we apply a statistical test on a population of 20 574 Hipparcos stars inside 300 pc with known radial velocities and with accurate parallaxes in the New Hipparcos Reduction. We reject the null hypothesis that there is no systematic error in spectrographic measurement of radial velocity, with 99.9993% confidence. In a separate test on low-metal stars, we find tension between calculations of the orbital velocity of the Sun and three populations of halo stars inside and outside of a cone of 60° semi-angle from the direction of rotation. Tension cannot be removed with only systematic distance adjustments. We conclude that there is an unmodelled element in spectrographic determinations of radial velocity with a probable cosmological origin, and propose that this unmodelled component, rather than CDM or MOND, is responsible for the apparent flatness of galaxy rotation curves.

Galactic Spiral Structure

We describe the structure and composition of six major stellar streams in a population of 20 574 local stars in the New Hipparcos Reduction with known radial velocities. We find that, once fast moving stars are excluded, almost all stars belong to one of these streams. The results of our investigation have lead us to re-examine the hydrogen maps of the Milky Way, from which we identify the possibility of a symmetric two-armed spiral with half the conventionally accepted pitch angle. We describe a model of spiral arm motions which matches the observed velocities and composition of the six major streams, as well as the observed velocities of the Hyades and Praesepe clusters at the extreme of the Hyades stream. Stellar orbits are perturbed ellipses aligned at a focus in coordinates rotating at the rate of precession of pericentre. Stars join a spiral arm just before apocentre, follow the arm for more than half an orbit, and leave the arm soon after pericentre. Spiral pattern speed equals the mean rate of precession of pericentre. Spiral arms are shown to be stable configurations of stellar orbits, up to the formation of a bar and/or ring. Pitch angle is directly related to the distribution of orbital eccentricities in a given spiral galaxy. We show how spiral galaxies can evolve to form bars and rings. We show that orbits of gas clouds are stable only in bisymmetric spirals. We conclude that the evolution of spiral galaxies is toward grand design two-armed spirals. We infer from the velocity distributions that the Milky Way evolved into this form about 9 Gyrs ago.

Calculation of the Local Standard of Rest from 20 574 Local Stars in the New Hipparcos Reduction with Known Radial Velocities

Context. An accurate estimate of the local standard of rest (LSR) is required to determine key parameters used in approximate galactic mass models and to understand Galactic structure and evolution. However, authors are often forced to base dynamical analyses on potentially unreliable figures because recent determinations of the LSR have failed to reach agreement, especially with regard to the direction, V, of Galactic rotation.
Aims. To explain why the traditional method for calculating the LSR fails, and to find alternative means of calculating the LSR with realistic error margins.
Methods. We assemble and investigate the kinematic properties of 20 574 stars within 300 pc, with complete and accurate kinematic data. The traditional method of calculating the LSR assumes a well-mixed distribution. In fact, the velocity distribution is highly structured, invalidating calculations based on mean motions and asymmetric drift. We find other indicators in the distribution which we believe give a better estimate of circular motion.
Results. We find good agreement between results and give as our best estimate of the LSR (U₀, V₀, V₀) = (7.5 ± 1.0, 13.5 ± 0.3, 6.8 ± 0.1 ) km s^-1. We calculate the slope of the circular speed curve at the solar radius, finding -9.3 ± 0.9 km s^-1 kpc-1.

Relational Quantum Gravity Papers

I am in the process of revising the theoretical papers on relational quantum gravity, the teleconnection and discrete quantum electrodynamics to eliminate minor errors which may cause confusion and to bring them into line with the material on this website. They will be posted here as soon as this is done.

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