Re: Redshift and the speed of light

From: greywolf42 (mingstb_at_marssim-ss.com)
Date: 11/23/04 

Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2004 09:08:16 +0000 (UTC)

"Mike Helland" <mobydikc@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:11990c07.0411191328.1fc89bfc@posting.google.com...
>
>
>
> I've heard about an alternative to the doppler effect being the cause
> of red-shift in our observations of distance galaxies. Its that over
> those huge huge distances the photon actually looses energy, slows
> down, and thus you see the red-shift.
>
> This "Tired-light" seems to have been thoroughly refuted.

Actually, this is incorrect, though commonly repeated. There are no
substantive refutations of 'tired light' at all. The only attempts that
have been proffered are strawman-type calculations of Compton scattering.
See the thread about the unsubstantiated claims located in Misner, Thorne
and Wheeler and their source, Zel'dovich.

http://www.google.com/groups?selm=103pkonmqrb5ud3%40corp.supernews.com

> Obviouslly, the easiest way to falsify tired-light would be to measure
> the speed of the photons coming from those distant galaxies, and see
> if they are indeed less than c.

The speed of a 'tired' photon is the same as any other photon.

> I want to do this. How do I measure the speed of light, and what are
> some usefully distant galaxies that I can gather light from in my
> measurements?

This has no applicability to the question of tired light.

> One thing I want to pay attention to is that my photon is not
> interupted before the measurement is made.
>
> For example, in QED we know that photons are absorbed by charged
> particles and then emitted again.

That is the theory. However, the issue is what is reality.

> Since the hypothesis we are testing here deals with an unknown
> mechanism, I should anticipate controls for the experiment. So I also
> hypothesize that by abosrbing one of these slow moving photons photon
> and emitting a new one it is possible the newly emitted one travels at
> c again. Again, I'm only saying its possible, and thus I would like my
> measurements to avoid the this outcome altering possibility.

Again, 'tired' photons are not 'slow' photons. Your entire premise is based
on ignorance of the 'tired light' postulates. 'Tired light' (such as
Vigier's theory) postulates that photons lose energy. Not speed. This
results in a red shift. Not a slowing of photons. 

--
greywolf42
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