Polarized Space?
Are there any indications that the universe might have a north and a south pole? It does appear something is 'up'.
Our earth spins about an axis. Using your right hand with your thumb pointed towards the north star or due north but at an angle to the horizon equal to your latitude, your fingers point in the direction of rotation. Similarly, in the northern hemisphere at noon (maximum daily altitude of sun), using your right hand with thumb up and with your arm pointed directly at the sun, will result in your fingers showing the direction of revolution of planets around the sun and the solar ecliptic plane. A similar exercise can be carried out with our milky way galaxy and viewed from above (using the earths north pole as up) it would, like the earth and sun's planetary system, be rotating counter clockwise. But what about our universe. Can a similar exercise be carried out? No, not quite. The curving of space does not occur in the 3 spatial dimensions we are familiar with, so we must turn to more sophisticated methods for analysis.
A spinning universe is impossible to conjure up in our minds. However, anomalous data from the Planck mission may be pointing to a universe with a north and south pole, threatening to undermine its isotropic nature, so fundamental to the flat model. If it turns out there is a north pole, we should be able to "see" it at some point in the future. The south pole is another matter, however, and would not be visible to any observer regardless of their location and the reasons, if correct, may turn our understanding of the shape of the universe on its ear. (refer to the 'Anomalies' and 'Alternatives' sections of this website).
Are there any indications that the universe might have a north and a south pole? It does appear something is 'up'.
Our earth spins about an axis. Using your right hand with your thumb pointed towards the north star or due north but at an angle to the horizon equal to your latitude, your fingers point in the direction of rotation. Similarly, in the northern hemisphere at noon (maximum daily altitude of sun), using your right hand with thumb up and with your arm pointed directly at the sun, will result in your fingers showing the direction of revolution of planets around the sun and the solar ecliptic plane. A similar exercise can be carried out with our milky way galaxy and viewed from above (using the earths north pole as up) it would, like the earth and sun's planetary system, be rotating counter clockwise. But what about our universe. Can a similar exercise be carried out? No, not quite. The curving of space does not occur in the 3 spatial dimensions we are familiar with, so we must turn to more sophisticated methods for analysis.
A spinning universe is impossible to conjure up in our minds. However, anomalous data from the Planck mission may be pointing to a universe with a north and south pole, threatening to undermine its isotropic nature, so fundamental to the flat model. If it turns out there is a north pole, we should be able to "see" it at some point in the future. The south pole is another matter, however, and would not be visible to any observer regardless of their location and the reasons, if correct, may turn our understanding of the shape of the universe on its ear. (refer to the 'Anomalies' and 'Alternatives' sections of this website).
