ethan@utastro.UUCP (Ethan Vishniac) (05/18/84)
[Aha! The phantom strikes!!!]
Just one more thought, one of the striking things about the
microwave background is that the energy density of the background
radiation is appropriate to a 2.7K blackbody, and so is the
detailed shape. This is only possible if we are *immersed*
in whatever produces the radiation (in the standard model, the
whole universe). A collection of sources with the appropriate
temperature would not, in general, produce the right energy density.
Conversely, the local energy density due to starlight (excluding
the sun) corresponds to about 3K, but the spectrum is nothing
like a blackbody at 3K. It's closer to a blackbody at several thousand
K, but even then the match is terrible.
"Just another Cosmic Cowboy"
Ethan Vishniac
{ut-sally,ut-ngp,kpno}!utastro!ethan
Department of Astronomy
University of Texas
Austin, Texas 78712