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How about a page on "The Copernican Revolution". I see that term used a great deal!—Preceding unsigned comment added by 156.98.118.254 (talk • contribs) 12:58, 1 June 2005

Comment moved from main page

The Copernican pricipal alone would leave no center of the solar system. Applying Occam's Razor however places the sun at the center of the solar system. Hackwrench 18:43, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

Some content to be removed

The paragraph "The philosopher..." does not beloing here at all. The topic should be under Copernican revolution or something. The redirect from Copernican revolution to here is inadequate. The last paragraph would be more apprioprate in the article Cosmological principle. This content is lacking there. Andres 08:05, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Major re-write

I removed the definition that was here before, namely

that no "special" observers should be proposed.

since in science at least the Copernican principle refers to us, it does not prohibit some other class of observers from being special.

I'm tidying up the discussion of the Copernican principle in cosmology. This page needs to be separated into two, one for the Copernican principle, and one for the Copernican revolution. These are very different concepts!

Oops, forgot to sign: PaddyLeahy 20:11, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

I removed the discussion of the "isotropy" of time since there is nothing in the Copernican principle itself which insists on isotropy. Spatial isotropy comes into the picture because of the observed large-scale isotropy around the Earth, but there is no observed "isotropy" of time (ie. past and future have very different properties in many senses). PaddyLeahy 20:43, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

I've created a page on the Copernican revolution as suggested above, moved relevant material from this page to there, and added a bit more myself. PaddyLeahy 00:15, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

Cleanup

This article needs a bit of general cleanup, especially in tone, which is too informal for an encyclopedia article at points. It could also benefit from some expansion.

In any case, I added the NPOV Check tag because it doesn't seem entirely fair to criticisms of the Copernican principal. This entire section could use a lot of work and expansion, and really ought to include more recent evidence, like the evidence discussed by Dr. Gonzalez. Moreover, there is not a section dedicated to evidence for the Copernican Principle, so the article is unbalanced. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 207.152.116.237 (talk • contribs) 14:37, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

Hi 207..., please sign your comments! Feel free to improve the English. An NPOV check would show that critics of the Copernican principle are a tiny minority of cosmologists and thus on the usual NPOV rules they are grossly over-represented by even being mentioned in this article. But since Krauss is a major figure and the WMAP results have attracted some publicity it seems reasonable to include this section. I very much doubt that Krauss believes we should abandon the CP but he obviously felt an open-minded statement was called for. If you can cite a published, peer-reviewed article by Dr Gonzalez you could try to include it... I have no idea what his position is. The evidence for the CP, of course, is that the whole of modern cosmology is based on it and that theory now has many successes of both the predictive and explanatory kind. PaddyLeahy 15:08, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

Citation for metric expansion

I don't believe the theory that the universe is expanding (metric expansion), because of the Copernican principle! Well... I don't have a full understanding of it really... lol but at any rate PLEASE properly cite the theory in the article. haha Robert M Johnson (talk) 17:42, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Relevant Information Prejudicially Removed

On 20 Sept, 2007, someone going by the name of, "Chalnoth" removed the following text from the article, stating that; "Lawrence Krauss was in no way, shape, or form intimating that the Earth is at the center of the universe". Although the referenced Edge article makes clear that Krauss was not advocating that the observational data was correct, he was indeed confirming the direct observational implications of the WMAP anomalies, which have since been refined to include other galaxy systems in a similarly meaningful manner, as was anticipated might happen within the very text of the Misplaced Pages article. This person also removed other evidence from an article from CERN that was only confirmed by Krauss' statement, strongly indicating that "Chalnoth" is consciously attempting to prejudicially censor the evidence. It should be emphasised that this kind of unscientific and preconceived ideological prejudice is commonly known to stem from what Brandon Carter identified as "anticentrist dogma", which scientists generally harbor, both, consciously and subconsciously, that causes them to willfully ignore clear evidence that runs contrary to the copernican cosmological extension, especially if it includes any form of anthropic significance.

The section to be restored and modified, previously read as follows:

Evidence against the Copernican principle

Some recent results from WMAP appear to run counter to Copernican expectations. The motion of the solar system, and the orientation of the plane of the ecliptic are aligned with features of the microwave sky which on conventional thinking are caused by structure at the edge of the observable universe

Lawrence Krauss is quoted as follows in the referenced Edge.org article:

"But when you look at CMB map, you also see that the structure that is observed, is in fact, in a weird way, correlated with the plane of the earth around the sun. Is this Copernicus coming back to haunt us? That's crazy. We're looking out at the whole universe. There's no way there should be a correlation of structure with our motion of the earth around the sun — the plane of the earth around the sun — the ecliptic. That would say we are truly the center of the universe."

It would be somewhat surprising if the WMAP alignments were a complete coincidence, but the anti-Copernican implications suggested by Krauss would be far more surprising, if true. Other possibilities are (i) that residual instrumental errors in WMAP cause the effect (ii) that expected microwave emission from within the solar system is contaminating the maps. Richard A. Ryals (talk) 20:42, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

16th century

The 16th. and 17th. centuries are mentioned in the article, although Pythagoras lived long before then. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.11.229.26 (talk) 14:41, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

CMB Anisotropies

To state that the year 2000 (COBE) data indicates that the Copernican Principle is validated is ludicrous. COBE and WMAP each contain specific signals leading to the "Axis of Evil" indicating strongly a preferred direction in space- directly through the earth in fact. Planck was designed and launched to remove potential artifacts from leading to this signal (with the presupposition due to the Copernican Principle that they are artifacts), but Planck has in fact confirmed the "Axis of Evil". Wyattmj (talk) 10:47, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

Both your word choice ("one can always imagine anything", "dashed this last hope for the Copernican Principle") as well as some of your other contributions on Misplaced Pages make it clear that you are merely using this article for religiously motivated propaganda for geocentricism.

Since your claims are also neither adequately sourced nor backed up by the recently released papers on Planck, I reverted your changes. Further information on this can be found within the paper "Planck 2013 results. XXIII. Isotropy and statistics of the CMB", section "5.9. Interpretation of anomalies" where explicitly some explanations are considered which don't necessitate to give up the Copernican principle.

Somebody with knowledge in the field should therefore have a look at the planck results. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.50.199.189 (talk) 14:45, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

Please do not willy nilly revert edits. This not acceptable. I will rerevert, and we can discuss. I will consider the wording. Wyattmj (talk) 18:03, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

referring to astudy from 2000 is inadequate. Copi/Huterer, Tegmark, Ellis, Hartnett, and many others are questioning and/or modifying (i.e., the multiverse) the CP. This article is sorely out of date The purpose of Misplaced Pages is not to pull the wool over the eyes of the public..Wyattmj (talk) 02:33, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

I am being reverted constantly, yet there is no dicussion; I am attempting to have one. WP:BRD requires a discussion, not ganging up on an editor and threatining WP:BRD action,Wyattmj (talk) 02:50, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

Do not discredit Misplaced Pages by using it to try and cover up what every decent cosmologist is currently thinking and even acting on. Do not use Misplaced Pages as a political tool. There is a serious question about the Copernican Principle, cosmologists are talking about it, and it is going to become known widely. Let Misplaced Pages be on top of the trends, and do not discredit it. Everyone with half a brain knows this is the case. DO NOT USE WIKIPEDIA TO HIDE THIS FROM THE PUBLIC. This is not meant to be the tool of petty bureaucrats. You are not protecting anyone, only destroying the credibility of Misplaced Pages. Wyattmj (talk) 03:14, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

Stop playing games and provide your sources and inline citations. Do not respond with anymore long winded babble, Just your sources. Thanks - 4twenty42o (talk) 09:05, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

Here are key articles relating to the WMAP CMB anisotropies, now verified in the Planck results:

Large-Angle Anomalies in the CMB Craig J. Copi, Dragan Huterer, Dominik J. Schwarz, and Glenn D. Starkman http://www.hindawi.com/journals/aa/2010/847541/

...Even so, the cosmological model we arrive at is baroque, requiring the introduction at different scales and epochs of three sources of energy density that are only detected gravitationally—dark matter, dark energy and the inflaton. This alone should encourage us to continuously challenge the model and probe the observations particularly on scales larger than the horizon at the time of last scattering. At the very least, probes of the large-angle (low-�) properties of the CMB reveal that we do not live in a typical realization of the concordance model of inflationary ΛCDM. We have reviewed a number of the ways in which that is true: the peculiar geometry of the � = 2 and 3 multipoles—their planarity, their mutual alignment, their alignment perpendicular to the ecliptic and to the dipole; the north-south asymmetry; and the near absence of two-point correlations for points separated by more than 60◦. If indeed the observed � = 2 and 3CMB fluctuations are not cosmological, one must reconsider all CMB results that rely on the low �, for example, the measurement of the optical depth from CMB polarization at low � or the spectral index of scalar perturbations and its running...

Uncorrelated universe: Statistical anisotropy and the vanishing angular correlation function in WMAP years 1–3 Craig J. Copi, Dragan Huterer, Dominik J. Schwarz, and Glenn D. Starkman http://prd.aps.org/abstract/PRD/v75/i2/e023507

"...(i) the four area vectors of the quadrupole and octopole are mutually close (i.e., the quadrupole and octopole planes are aligned) at the 99.6% C.L.;

(ii) the quadrupole and octopole planes are orthogonal to the ecliptic at the 95.9% C.L.; this alignment was at 98.5% C.L. in our analysis of the WMAP 1 yearmaps. The reduction of alignment was due to WMAP’s adaption of a new radiometer gain model for the 3 year data analysis, that took seasonal variations of the receiver box temperature into account—a systematic that is indeed correlated with the ecliptic plane. We regard that as clear evidence that multipole vectors are a sensitive probe of alignments;

(iii) the normals to these four planes are aligned with the direction of the cosmological dipole (and with the equinoxes) at a level inconsistent with Gaussian random, statistically isotropic skies at 99.7% C.L.;

(iv) the ecliptic threads between a hot and a cold spot of the combined quadrupole and octopole map, following a node line across about 1/3 of the sky and separating the three strong extrema from the three weak extrema of the map; this is unlikely at about the 95% C.L. ..." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.183.53.247 (talk) 00:01, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

THE ODDLY QUIET UNIVERSE: HOW THE CMB CHALLENGES COSMOLOGY’S STANDARD MODEL GLENN D. STARKMAN, CRAIG J. COPI, DRAGAN HUTERER, DOMINIK SCHWARZ http://arxiv.org/abs/1201.2459 We discuss selected large-scale anomalies in the maps of temperature anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background. Specfically, these include alignments of the largest modes of CMB anisotropy with one another and with the geometry and direc- tion of motion of the Solar System, and the unexpected absence of two-point angular corellations especially outside the region of the sky most contaminated by the Galaxy. We discuss these findings in relation to expectations from standard inflationary cosmol- ogy. This paper is adapted from a talk given by one of us (GDS) at the SEENET-2011 meeting in August 2011 on the Serbian bank of the Danube Rive — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.183.53.247 (talk) 00:07, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

13 more things: The axis of evil http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327245.900-13-more-things-axis-of-evil.html

WHAT would you do if you found a mysterious and controversial pattern in the radiation left over from the big bang? In 2005, Kate Land and João Magueijo at Imperial College London faced just such a conundrum. What they did next was a PR master stroke: they called their discovery the cosmic "axis of evil".

What exactly had they seen? Instead of finding hot and cold spots randomly spattered across the sky as they expected, the pair's analysis showed that the spots in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) appeared to be aligned in one particular direction through space.

The apparent alignment is "evil" because it undermines what we thought we knew about the early universe. Modern cosmology is built on the assumption that the universe is essentially the same in whichever direction we look. If the cosmic radiation has a preferred direction, that assumption may have to go - along with our best theories about cosmic history.

This disaster might be averted if we can show that the axis arises from some oddity in the way our telescopes and satellites observe the radiation. A nearby supercluster of galaxies could also save the day: its gravitational pull might be enough to distort the radiation into the anomalous form seen.

Nobody knows for sure. We are dealing with the limits of our capabilities, says Michael Longo of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "All observations beyond our galaxy are obscured by the disc of the Milky Way," he points out, so we need to be careful how we interpret them.

The European Space Agency's recently launched Planck space telescope might settle the issue when it makes the most sensitive maps yet of the CMB. Until then, the axis of evil continues to terrorise us.

Here are some sources for questioning the CP and articles concerning periodicity. I will add some material related to CMB anisotropies.(wyattmj):

Is the universe expanding asymmetrically? By Estelle Asmodelle 26 September 2011 http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/is-universe-expanding-asymmetrically/

http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/1109/1109.0941v4.pdf "n this paper we investigated the existence of anisotropy of the universe by employing the hemi- sphere comparison method and the Union2 SNIa dataset and found this preferred direction..."

http://arxiv.org/abs/1104.0539 The consistency level of LCDM with geometrical data probes has been increasing with time during the last decade. Despite of these successes, there are some puzzling conflicts between LCDM predictions and dynamical data probes (bulk flows, alignment and magnitude of low CMB multipoles, alignment of quasar optical polarization vectors, cluster halo profiles). Most of these puzzles are related to the existence of preferred anisotropy axes which appear to be unlikely close to each other. A few models that predict the existence of preferred cosmological axes are briefly discussed.

Generalized Hubble law, violation of the cosmological principle and Supernovae http://cds.cern.ch/record/469586 The acceleration of the cosmic expansion has been discovered as a consequence of redshift Supernovae data. In the usual way, this cosmic acceleration is explained by the presence of a positive cosmological constant or quantum vacuum energy, in the background of standard Friedmann models. Recently, looking for an alternative explanation, I have considered an inhomogeneous barotropic spherically symmetric spacetime. Obviously, in this inhomogeneous model the philosophical cosmological principle is not verified. Within this framework, the kinematical acceleration of the cosmic fluid or, equivalently, the inhomogeneity of matter, is just the responsible of the SNe Ia measured cosmic acceleration. Moreover, this model gives rise to a generalized Hubble law with two anisotropic terms (dipole acceleration and quadrupole shear), besides the expansion one. The dipole term of this generalized Hubble law could explain, in a cosmological setting, the observed large scale flow of matter, without to have recourse to peculiar velocity-type newtonian models which assume a Doppler dipole.

Testing the Copernican Principle Against Cosmological Observations http://www.china-vo.org/nv400/node/20

A Test of the Copernican Principle http://arxiv.org/pdf/0711.3459v1.pdf The blackbody nature of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation spectrum is used in a modern test of the Copernican Principle. The reionized universe serves as a mirror to reflect CMB photons, thereby permitting a view of ourselves and the local gravitational potential. By comparing with measurements of the CMB spectrum, a limit is placed on the possibility that we occupy a privileged location, residing at the center of a large void. The Hubble diagram inferred from lines-of-sight originating at the center of the void may be misinterpreted to indicate cosmic acceleration. Current limits on spectral distortions are shown to exclude the largest voids which mimic cosmic acceleration. More sensitive measurements ofthe CMB spectrum could prove the existence of such a void or confirm the validity of the Copernican Principle.

Undermining the Cosmological Principle: Almost Isotropic Observations in Inhomogeneous Cosmologies R. K. Barrett, C. A. Clarkson (Submitted on 12 Nov 1999 (v1), last revised 13 Mar 2001 (this version, v3)) http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9911235

   We challenge the widely held belief that the cosmological principle is an obvious consequence of the observed isotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation, combined with the Copernican principle. We perform a detailed analysis of a class of inhomogeneous perfect fluid cosmologies admitting an isotropic radiation field, with a view to assessing their viability as models of the real universe. These spacetimes are distinguished from FLRW universes by the presence of inhomogeneous pressure, which results in an acceleration of the fundamental observers. We examine their physical, geometrical and observational characteristics for all observer positions in the spacetimes. To this end, we derive exact, analytic expressions for the distance-redshift relations and anisotropies for any observer, and compare their predictions with available observational constraints. The isotropy constraints derived from `local' observations are also considered, qualitatively. A crucial aspect of this work is the application of the Copernican principle: for a specific model to be acceptable we demand that it must be consistent with current observational constraints (especially anisotropy constraints) for all observer locations. The most important results of the paper are presented as exclusion plots in the 2-D parameter space of the models. We show that there is a region of parameter space not ruled out by the constraints we consider and containing models that are significantly inhomogeneous. It follows immediately from this that the cosmological principle cannot be assumed to hold on the basis of present observational constraints.

Galaxy redshift abundance periodicity from Fourier analysis ofnumber counts N(z)using SDSS and 2dF GRS galaxy surveys J.G. Hartnett K. Hirano http://arxiv.org/pdf/0711.4885v3.pdf

"..This paper uses a simple Fourier analysis of number counts of galaxy redshifts in the SDSS and 2df GRS galaxy samples to search for periodic red- shift spacings. Several spacings are found and are also confirmed using mass density fluctuations and the redshift separations between galaxies, though the latter are less sensitive methods. This analysis is similar in many ways to recent analyses carried out by other investigators, such as Tegmark et al. (2004) where the power spectra obtained from the SDSS and 2dF GRS samples are also found to have similar power peaks..."

Unknown selection effect simulates redshift periodicity in quasar number counts from Sloan Digital Sky Survey

J. G. Hartnett

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10509-009-0151-2 Abstract

Discrete Fourier analysis on the quasar number count, as a function of redshift, z, calculated from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR6 release appears to indicate that quasars have preferred periodic redshifts with redshift intervals of 0.258, 0.312, 0.44, 0.63, and 1.1. However the same periods are found in the mean of the zConf parameter used to flag the reliability of the spectroscopic measurements. It follows that these redshift periods must result from some selection effect, as yet undetermined. It does not signal any intrinsic (quantized) redshifts in the quasars in Sloan survey data. However this result does not rule out the possibility as found in earlier studies of other data. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.183.53.247 (talk) 23:42, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

I see it this way: you have lumped primary sources that question the Copernican principle. I see them as alternative ideas and see no evidence they are supported by the mainstream scientific community. What is more essential though, is I see no support whatsoever to your conclusion "This is a clear indication of the demise of the Copernican Principal." - thus see WP:NOR. Materialscientist (talk) 07:15, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Went ahead and replaced the conslusion with the term "questioning the Copernican Principle". Wyattmj (talk) 07:43, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Would you please wait for others to comment? Your addition contains glaring errors in grammar and sourcing, but what is worse, it still contains your WP:OR on demise and "invalidation of the Copernican Principle." Materialscientist (talk) 07:48, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Ok, then, let's get some discussion going.72.46.228.155 (talk) 08:17, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

I placed my last edit in a sandbox. Please comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/User:Wyattmj/sandbox — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wyattmj (talk • contribs) 13:54, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Here is the latest: Planck shows almost perfect cosmos – plus axis of evil http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23301-planck-shows-almost-perfect-cosmos--plus-axis-of-evil.html?full=true

The universe is almost perfect, 80 million years older than we thought, and maybe a little bit evil.

...Planck's map greatly improves cosmologists' understanding of the universe, but it does not solve lingering mysteries over unusual patterns in the CMB. These include a "preferred" direction in the way the temperature of the light varies, dubbed the cosmic "axis of evil", as well as an inexplicably cold spot that could be evidence for universes beyond our own (see image, right). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wyattmj (talk • contribs) 14:42, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

I brutally pruned two sections discussing CMB anisotropies (aka the Axis of Evil) down to the bare facts, complete with multiple peer-reviewed references. Feel free to discuss conspiracy theories on this page, but Wkipedia articles need to be a dispassionate summary of information backed up by reliable sources, not cherry-picked internet articles. Beyond a summary mention about specific implications for the Copernican Principle, these theories should be fully described elsewhere (eg. the CMB article itself). Lithopsian (talk) 13:53, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

I think "refuted" is much too strong of language. The signals are there, and these papers only offer possible explanations under very specific circumstances (i.e., LTB model- not the standard model), and only possibilities:

http://prd.aps.org/abstract/PRD/v87/i2/e023524 Furthermore, whereas the quadrupole and octupole near the center of a LTB void are necessarily small, certain Szekeres models can include a significant quadrupole while still being consistent with the observed dipole, hinting that Szekeres models may be able to give an explanation for the observed quadrupole/octupole anomalies.

http://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v107/i4/e041301 From 2011, and only claims to challenge local void models due to a specific effect.

http://iopscience.iop.org/1475-7516/2012/10/059/ It is still not ascertained whether these anomalies are indeed primordial or the result of systematics or foregrounds...

Wyattmj (talk) 04:28, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

From Planck XXIII

The two fundamental assumptions of the standard cosmological model — that the initial fluctuations are statistically isotropic and Gaussian — are rigorously tested using maps of the CMB anisotropy from the Planck satellite. The detailed results are based on studies of four independent esti- mates of the CMB that are compared to simulations using a fiducial ΛCDM model and incorporating essential aspects of the Planck measurement process. Deviations from isotropy have been found and demonstrated to be robust against component separation algorithm, mask and frequency dependence. Many of these anomalies were previously observed in the WMAP data, and are now confirmed at similar levels of significance (around 3σ).However, we find little evidence for non-Gaussianity with the exception of a few statistical signatures that seem to be associated with specific anomalies. In particular, we find that the quadrupole-octopole alignment is also connected to a low observed variance of the CMB signal. The dipolar power asymmetry is now found to persist to much smaller angular scales, and can be described in the low- regime by a phenomenological dipole modulation model. Finally, it is plausible that some of these features may be reflected in the angular power spectrum of the data which shows a deficit of power on the same scales. Indeed, when the power spectra of two hemispheres defined by a preferred direction are considered separately, one shows evidence for a deficit in power, whilst its opposite contains oscillations between odd and even modes that may be related to the parity violation and phase correlations also detected in the data. Whilst these analyses represent a step forward in building an understanding of the anomalies, a satisfactory explanation based on physically motivated models is still lacking.

What are you trying to say? You seem hung up on the idea that every anisotropy found in the CMB is in conflict with the Copernican Principle. Please try to understand the papers before you make these claims. There are anisotropies. They are being studied. One set in particular was thought to be somewhat aligned with the ecliptic (as if that was even relevant to the Copernican Principal!) but the level of correlation was weak and probably a coincidence. Examine enough anisotropies and one of them will look like it means something. There's a face on Mars you really should look at ;) Lithopsian (talk) 19:42, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Any preferred direction in space is a death knell for the Copernican Principle. Planck weas supposed to clear up whether or not the anisotropies, and preferred direction were real or not by using a different sensor (bolometer vs. differential temperature measurement) and a different scanning pattern than WMAP or COBE. The verdict is in, Planck has verified that what WMAP and COBE saw is real, and in fact extended to 20 multipoles. This is big news, and is going to be talked about a lot in the coming days, months and years (and in fact already is). Do not use Misplaced Pages to try and cover this up. 74.100.71.90 (talk) 20:43, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

It is now April 10th, where are the obvious references to your reliable sources? (You did say that this was big news and would be talked about a lot in the coming days.) -- Kheider (talk) 17:19, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

I added another paper by Copi et. al.,

The Uncorrelated Universe: Statistical Anisotropy and the Vanishing Angular Correlation Function in WMAP Years 1-3

Craig J. Copi1, Dragan Huterer2 , Dominik J. Schwarz3 , and Glenn D. Starkman1,4

1 Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7079 2 Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics and Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 3 Fakultat fur Physik, Universit ̈at Bielefeld, Postfach 100131, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany and 4 Beecroft Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Astrophysics, University of Oxford, UK

The large-angle (low-l) correlations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) as reported by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) after their first year of observations exhibited statistically significant anomalies compared to the predictions of the standard inflationary big-bang model. We suggested then that these implied the presence of a solar system foreground, a systematic correlated with solar system geometry, or both. We re-examine these anomalies for the data from the first three years of WMAP’s operation. We show that, despite the identification by the WMAP team of a systematic correlated with the equinoxes and the ecliptic, the anomalies in the first- year Internal Linear Combination (ILC) map persist in the three-year ILC map, in all-but-one case at similar statistical significance. The three-year ILC quadrupole and octopole therefore remain inconsistent with statistical isotropy – they are correlated with each other (99.6%C.L.), and there are statistically significant correlations with local geometry, especially that of the solar system. The angular two-point correlation function at scales > 60 degrees in the regions outside the (kp0) galactic cut, where it is most reliably determined, is approximately zero in all wavebands and is even more discrepant with the best fit ΛCDM inflationary model than in the first-year data – 99.97%C.L. for the new ILC map. The full-sky ILC map, on the other hand, has a non-vanishing angular two-point correlation function, apparently driven by the region inside the cut, but which does not agree better with ΛCDM. The role of the newly identified low-l systematics is more puzzling than reassuring. Wyattmj (talk) 03:33, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

kheider

I suggest reading Misplaced Pages:Advocacy and please avoid original research. -- Kheider (talk) 13:04, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

Please read Krauss' quote. Wyattmj (talk) 18:46, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

In conclusion Krauss states, "there's something weird about the microwave background results and that maybe, maybe there's something wrong with our theories"

And so did Copi, Huterer, et. al., but they also said- let's wait for Planck, and Planck confirmed it.

I do not see where any reference states, "The Planck announcement of March 21st, 2013, dashed this last hope for the Copernican Principle"

They state non-gaussianity, anisotropy at 3 sigma level.

Planck reveals an almost perfect Universe fails to even mention Copernicus.

Axis of evil. This si a known issue, and is anti-Copernican.

The only person that states that "Alignment to the ecliptic is anti-Copernican" is your own original research. -- Kheider (talk) 19:20, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

Copi et. al., also state that . See the 4 points which I already above in my talk section.

"...(i) the four area vectors of the quadrupole and octopole are mutually close (i.e., the quadrupole and octopole planes are aligned) at the 99.6% C.L.;

(ii) the quadrupole and octopole planes are orthogonal to the ecliptic at the 95.9% C.L.; this alignment was at 98.5% C.L. in our analysis of the WMAP 1 yearmaps. The reduction of alignment was due to WMAP’s adaption of a new radiometer gain model for the 3 year data analysis, that took seasonal variations of the receiver box temperature into account—a systematic that is indeed correlated with the ecliptic plane. We regard that as clear evidence that multipole vectors are a sensitive probe of alignments;

(iii) the normals to these four planes are aligned with the direction of the cosmological dipole (and with the equinoxes) at a level inconsistent with Gaussian random, statistically isotropic skies at 99.7% C.L.;

wyattmj (can't edit while signed in)

CERN Courier "Does the motion of the solar system affect the microwave sky?"
C. J. Copi, D. Huterer, D. J. Schwarz, G. D. Starkman (2006). "On the large-angle anomalies of the microwave sky". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 367: 79–102.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) preprint
"The Energy of Space That Isn't Zero."
Copi et al. op. cit.

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