Abstract
An attempt has been made to explain the microwave background within the framework of the steady state theory by invoking thermalizers in the form of long whiskers of semi-metallic grains such as natural graphite. An ad hoc but general method has been sought for the description of a cosmic thermal system in terms of absorption coefficients of such grains in the proper Rayleigh limit. We have found that typically natural graphite grains, having axial ratios of the order of 104 to 105 and a temperature about 4 K, have a broad absorption peak only at decimetre wavelengths and thus cannot adequately thermalize the background. It is also shown that the effects of such an absorbing medium on such radio astronomical tests as the number count test or the angular size test can be very severe, especially in Friedmann cosmologies. These effects are marginal in the steady state theory. The desirable physico-optical properties of such semi-metallic thermalizers have also been investigated.
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Rana, N.C. Absorption effects of intergalactic natural graphite whiskers on observations at microwave and radio frequencies. Astrophys Space Sci 66, 173–190 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00648369
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00648369