- #1
Seraph316
- 5
- 0
Hi! I'm new here and I have a question I hope you can help me with.
I'm curious about the conclusion that our Universe is expanding and ask if the evidence of Red Shift is reliable enough - or, could the apparent Red Shift be caused by interference from Dark Energy/Matter distorting our optics or slowing down light waves?
For example, look at a distant ship through a pane of glass and you will see it clearly enough - but should the ship be further away and there be panes of glass every few metres to look through, how accurate will the image of the ship be then. Project that the ship is a galaxy on the edge of the observable Universe and an infinite number of panes of glass in the way - but the panes are now particles of Dark Energy or Dark Matter that make up to 96% of the Universe - how clear and accurate will the image be then? May the increasing build up of dark stuff (more of it in the way the further out you look) possibly slow down the light waves, so creating a Red Shift caused by interference which we may think is caused by a speed up of universal expansion? If so, then the greater the distance to the object being observed the correspondingly greater would be its Red Shift caused by the extra dark stuff in the way, but there may be no acceleration or expansion really!
There are probably all sorts of reasons why this scenario doesn't work but I'm curious as to what they are. Therefore, please can someone explain them to me in layman's terms so I can understand. Thanks.
I'm curious about the conclusion that our Universe is expanding and ask if the evidence of Red Shift is reliable enough - or, could the apparent Red Shift be caused by interference from Dark Energy/Matter distorting our optics or slowing down light waves?
For example, look at a distant ship through a pane of glass and you will see it clearly enough - but should the ship be further away and there be panes of glass every few metres to look through, how accurate will the image of the ship be then. Project that the ship is a galaxy on the edge of the observable Universe and an infinite number of panes of glass in the way - but the panes are now particles of Dark Energy or Dark Matter that make up to 96% of the Universe - how clear and accurate will the image be then? May the increasing build up of dark stuff (more of it in the way the further out you look) possibly slow down the light waves, so creating a Red Shift caused by interference which we may think is caused by a speed up of universal expansion? If so, then the greater the distance to the object being observed the correspondingly greater would be its Red Shift caused by the extra dark stuff in the way, but there may be no acceleration or expansion really!
There are probably all sorts of reasons why this scenario doesn't work but I'm curious as to what they are. Therefore, please can someone explain them to me in layman's terms so I can understand. Thanks.