Mysterious Circular Radio Objects: could they be plasmoids? A new set of precision distance measurements made with an international collection of radio telescopes has greatly increased the likelihood that theorists need to revise the "standard model" that describes the fundamental nature of the Universe.

Full paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2006.14805.pdf

"We have found an unexpected class of astronomical objects which have not previously been reported, in the Evolutionary Map of the Universe Pilot survey, using the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder telescope. The objects appear in radio images as circular edgebrightened discs about one arcmin diameter, and do not seem to correspond to any known type of object"

Light appears to bend around large objects in space. Proponents of gravitational cosmology are quick to interpret this to fit their cherished theory of mass bending space and time. They even invoke mysterious dark matter on occasion, but it turns out there is a simpler and verifiable explanation at hand.

Ranitesh Gupta is a professor of Electrical Engineering & Technology at Lucknow University, India. He explains it in terms of refraction. See his paper here.

From the conclusion:

"It is suggested that Gravitation is only between material bodies and that the zero-rest mass photon is unaffected by gravity. The alternative novel approach to explain phenomena such as bending of light near a star and gravitational red/blue shift is based on refraction phenomenon of optics. Bending of light is due to bending of ray due to refraction within the star's atmosphere. The red/blue shift is due to optical-phenomenon of change of wavelength (frequency remaining same) due to change in velocity of light in the atmospheric medium. Other aspects such as blackhole and gravitational-lensing are also re-examined in the new perspective of refraction phenomenon. Interesting predictions are also made. In fact many of the general-relativity-tests are explained without general-relativity on the basis of refraction. The new approach could have important bearing on understanding of space-time, gravity and cosmology."

The straightforward idea that refraction causes the lensing effect attributed to General Relativity has also been proposed by Dr. Edward Dowdye, a physicist and laser optics engineer formerly with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. He has derived a mathematical solution for lensing using refraction, and presented his findings at the EU 2012 conference. Paper: Gravitational Lensing in Empty Vacuum Space Does NOT Take Place

Dr. Dowdye points to the fact that observations of solar lensing are in the plasma ionized atmosphere of the Sun, as predicted by refraction, and not at varying elevations from the mass of the Sun, as predicted for gravitational lensing. He also highlights the lack of gravitational lensing observed in the stars rapidly orbiting the Milky Way's galactic center. YouTube - The Failed Attempts to Detect Macro Lensing

"Evidence of gravitational light bending at the site of Sagittarius A*, as is predicted by the light bending rule of General Relativity, is yet to be observed."
Dr. Edward Dowdye

Schoolboys the world over know that if you put a stick in water it will appear to bend as a result of refraction. We also know that the atmosphere of planets and stars is more dense than the space between them. In other words, why resort to complicated mathematics and esoteric hypotheses when simplicity will suffice? KISS (keep it simple, stupid) is the expression that springs to mind.

Standard scientific texts focus on just three states of matter - solids, liquids, and gases. This is no small omission. Not only should plasma be added to this list, but it should take first place, not least because it constitutes 99% of the known Universe! Space travel has confirmed this fact. It is misleading to describe plasma as an ionized gas when it is in fact a state in its own right.

Given the dominance of plasma in the universe, it seems more sensible to consider solids as cooled plasma (or matter with energy removed), as opposed to highly energised or heated matter. Moreover, because of the ability of plasma to interact with electromagnetic forces, it is capable of forming far more complex structures than those seen in solids, liquids, or gases.

Plasma is for everyone, as Anthony Peratt, a leading contemporary astrophysicist, is wont to say.

[T]he professional tends to interpret the pictures by using the theory he was taught while the amateur tries to use the picture to arrive at a theory. Halton Arp, Seeing Red

Within the limited confines of our own backyard, the Solar System, existing gravitational models seem to be holding up. We have succeeded in sending probes to neighbouring planets and, despite the crashes and anomalous accelerations that have afflicted many space programs, the Huygens mission scored a spectacular success - landing on Titan, a moon of Saturn, despite unexpected atmospheric conditions.

It should be noted, however, that gravity models begin to break down when we look further afield. Gravity, of course, is generally described as a property of mass. The trouble is that we have not discovered enough mass in our own galaxy, the Milky Way, to account for its fortunate tendency not to disintegrate.

The existence of mysterious dark matter is hypothesised to account for this shortfall in mass, but it is yet to be discovered despite extensive searches. Its existence is only inferred on the basis that gravity models "must be" correct. The alternatives raise too many uncomfortable questions! Furthermore, dark matter is no small kludge factor - it is alleged to account for about 80% of the universe, but accounts vary from one moment to the next. This has led to further problems in relation to expansion models, and another hypothetical, dark energy, has been invented to overcome these. In summation, dark matter and dark energy are the blank cheques required to postpone the falsification of bankrupt theories.

Moreover, as per the work of Anthony Peratt, it can be shown that electromagnetic forces are several orders of magnitude greater than gravitational forces in certain types of plasma, and also that electromagnetic forces can have a longer range. On the largest scales, evidence that plasmas exhibit external forces on physical objects such as galaxies is the same as that which has led standard model researchers to postulate dark matter and dark energy. Need any more be said?

"It is an embarrassment that the dominant forms of matter in the universe remain hypothetical." Jim Peebles, Princeton Cosmologist

In 1996, in a joint venture between the US and Italy, a large spherical satellite was deployed from the US space shuttle at the end of a conducting cable (tether) over 12 miles long. The idea was to let the shuttle drag the tether across the Earth's magnetic field, producing one part of a dynamo circuit. The return current, from the shuttle to the payload, would flow via the Earth's ionosphere.

The deployment was almost complete when things went wrong. The tether suddenly broke free, and it took some smart detective work to discover the cause. The nature of the break suggested it was not caused by excessive tension, but that a strong electric current had melted the tether.

It is often said that there is no reason to believe that the universe knows about us, or that our solar system knows about the universe. In this purely mechanistic view, contradictory evidence is generally explained away as merely coincidental. Anomalies in CMB measurements seem to suggest that our solar system reacts to conditions outside it, which was not expected, but this situation is dismissed as ... coincidental.

sciencealert.com hints that new physics may be required.

Plasma Cosmology promotes a more holistic view of the universe. This is a profound differentiation, and permits many theories previously excluded in a purely mechanistic gravity-dominated universe. Bodies immersed in plasma are not isolated - they are connected by circuits.

Quasars (quasi-stellar radio sources) have long presented puzzles that sit uneasily within standard cosmological assumptions. One often-cited example is the galaxy NGC 7319, a Seyfert Type 2 galaxy whose active nucleus is largely obscured by dense dust. Its measured redshift is approximately z = 0.0225.

Nearby in projection lies a bright quasar with a redshift of z = 2.114 — a dramatically higher value.

Under the conventional interpretation, redshift is taken as a proxy for both distance and recessional velocity. If so, the quasar should lie vastly farther away than the galaxy — by billions of light years. Yet its apparent alignment with the galaxy, and the suggestion of interaction or proximity in some observations, raises questions about whether redshift always functions as a simple distance indicator.

"...past 90% it [Dark Matter] begins to make observations irrelevant." Halton Arp

"The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend." Novelist, Robertson Davies

Cases such as this have been used to argue that the relationship between redshift and distance may not be as straightforward as often assumed. While the expanding-universe model remains strongly supported by multiple independent lines of evidence, anomalies and edge cases continue to provoke debate about how redshift should be interpreted in all circumstances.

If the quasar associated with NGC 7319 were physically connected to the galaxy, its large redshift would be difficult to reconcile with a purely distance-based interpretation. This tension lies at the heart of ongoing discussions about so-called discordant redshifts.

Intrinsic Redshift

Observations of certain galaxies have suggested structured relationships between quasars, companion galaxies, and active galactic nuclei. In some cases, quasars appear aligned along axes extending from galactic centres, and occasionally features described as "bridges" or connections have been reported.

Such observations led astronomer Halton Arp to propose that at least part of a quasar’s redshift might be intrinsic — related to its physical state or evolutionary stage — rather than arising solely from cosmic expansion.

Arp, a former colleague of Edwin Hubble, documented numerous examples of apparent associations between objects with markedly different redshifts. These observations challenged the assumption that redshift always corresponds directly to distance. His work remains controversial, but it continues to be discussed in alternative cosmological frameworks.

In Arp’s interpretation, quasars could represent younger, evolving objects ejected from active galaxies, with redshift decreasing as they mature. Over time, such objects might develop into dwarf galaxies and eventually into more typical galactic forms.

The Plasma Universe presents a profoundly dynamic, quasi steady-state picture of reality. It may seem counterintuitive to regard galaxies — enduring for billions of years — as transient phenomena, yet within this framework they form part of an ongoing process of creation and decay. Planets, stars, and galaxies are born and die. The universe, in this view, is cyclical.

In the plasma cosmology model, large-scale structures such as superclusters, clusters, and galaxies emerge from magnetically confined plasma filaments — vast, evolving networks shaped by electromagnetic forces. This approach not only accommodates the observed large-scale structure of the universe, but anticipates it. Without requiring a singular point of origin, it allows for the gradual development of complexity over extended timescales, free from the constraints of a finite beginning and open instead to a universe in continual evolution. A universe not fixed in origin, but alive in process.

The YouTube Geointeresting Podcast, Episode 5, below, is a fascinating interview with Cleo Loi, the undergraduate who discovered "plasma tubes" in the ionosphere circa 2016.

Her supervisor tasked her with understanding the noise of the radio telescope study of distant pulsar signals, the story goes. Cleo noticed patterns in the data, then proceeded (apparently for the first time in history) to use a parallax test available to a cluster telescope in order to determine the location (altitude) of the phenomenon. She's essentially invented the terrestrial study of the ionosphere by radio telescopes.

Cleo recounts her navigation through dismissal by her supervisors and experts in the field. Another senior professor is in on the interview, and seems slightly defensive. The situation serves as a reminder of Alfvén's interdisciplinary warning.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/z1yHghhBJGc

Cosmology is often described as the Queen of the Sciences, as it provides the foundational framework upon which many other scientific disciplines depend. This central role contributes to a natural resistance to change, as noted on the home page. Any significant shift in cosmological understanding would likely require a reassessment across much — if not all — of the scientific landscape. See also Skepticism / Paradigm Shifts.