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Victory for one theory should mean defeat for its rival.
A European Southern Observatory press release boasts, “Pulsating Star Mystery
Solved” Cepheid variables are stars whose rates of
pulsation vary with their luminosities: the brighter the star,
the longer it takes to complete a cycle of variability. It’s called
the period–luminosity relationship. By timing the period of pulsation, the
absolute luminosity of the star can be calculated. By comparing that quantity
with the star’s apparent brightness, the star’s distance can be determined.
Edwin Hubble’s discovery of Cepheids in the Andromeda galaxy in 1924 was
the key to proving that the “spiral nebulae,” formerly thought to lie inside the
Milky Way, were actually independent galaxies far outside the Milky Way. Until
now, two theories that predict properties of Cepheids have been in conflict.
The press release explains: “Predictions of their masses derived from the theory of
pulsating stars are 20–30% less than
predictions from the theory of the evolution of stars. This embarrassing
discrepancy has been known since the 1960s.” The newly discovered Cepheid is a member
of a binary system in which the two stars pass in front of each other as seen from Earth.
This configuration enables astronomers to measure not only variations in their
luminosities but also their orbital velocities. From these measurements,
the stars’ masses can be determined with unprecedented accuracy. The press
release states, “The mass of the Cepheid is now known to about 1% and agrees
exactly with predictions from the theory of stellar pulsation. However,
the larger mass predicted by stellar evolution theory
was shown to be significantly in error.” Also significant is this last result is passed
over without further comment.
One can presume that the aforementioned “embarrassing discrepancy”
has paralyzed advocates’ abilities for critical thinking. The discrepancy can
only be embarrassing for an orthodoxy of belief which admits,
with false humility, that Cepheids are “not fully understood.”
The admission thinly hides the implied obverse that Cepheids are
“almost entirely understood,” a scientific conceit rightly deserving
embarrassment. That the result confirms the stellar pulsation theory
necessitates that it falsifies the stellar evolution theory. If
astronomers were philosophically honest, they would declare the theory nullified in
accordance with Karl Popper’s 1959 proposal of falsification
as a criterion to distinguish a scientific theory from a pseudo-
scientific one. Falsification was to be a “convention”
that required scientists to agree not to adjust a theory to accommodate test results but,
when falsified, to start over with searches for alternative theories.
Falsification is not a property of a theory that justifies acquiescence in orthodoxy,
but a convention that enables opportunities for discovery
of new theories and the overthrow of conceptual
monopolies. But in view of past perform- ance, stellar evolution theory will simply
be “adjusted.” A substantially different theory will be put forward with the same name
in order to maintain the illusion of continuity
and the cumulativeness of conceptual progress. The only continuity will be the tenure
of advocates; the only cumulativeness will be in their power and salaries.
The conceptual claim is fraud- ulent. In the Electric Universe,
variations in luminosity are caused by oscillations in the currents powering the
stars and are likely “atmospheric” effects. Mass is proportional to the charge on a body
and may be unrelated to the oscillations unless they deposit or remove charge.
The process is “hardly at all understood” and is an opportunity
for discovery and development. When Cepheids are used as indicators for the
distances to nearby galaxies, a necessary assumption is that mass is invariant
throughout the universe. But if mass varies with charge, each
galaxy—and therefore each star in it—could have a different charge distribution with respect
to the intergalactic plasma. Each galaxy could have an idiosyncratic
period-luminosity relationship for Cepheids, rendering them unusable for determining
distances to other galaxies. Halton Arp’s discoveries of connections
between high-redshift quasars and low-redshift active galaxies have already
brought “ultra-luminous” objects at great distances back to being “normally
luminous” objects at much closer distances. The objects may even be
“under-luminous” and located at nearby distances. With both redshift and Cepheids
thrown into doubt, astronomers are left with no reliable way to determine distances
to galaxies. Astronomy is once again open to new
fundamental insights. The ornate knowledge with which the
Queen of the Sciences has proclaimed herself to be draped
is turning out to the invisible. Perhaps she should not have paraded herself so far
down the street without an alternative theory at hand.
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