Abstract
RECENT work by Plagemann, Feldman and Gribbin1 seems to show that quasar redshifts are not intrinsic. I take no issue here with the more specific result of the Cambridge group, that there is no significant evidence for periodicity of peaks in the distribution of z (redshift). But, using the same observational material, which was taken from a list by Burbidge and Burbidge2, I find that the well known peak at z = 0.060 cannot be due to chance, although there is some uncertainty of the significance level. On the other hand, the conclusion of Burbidge3 that the peak at z = 1.95 is highly significant is not confirmed. It can be shown that the difference between our result and that of Burbidge is due to the interpretation of the statistics.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Plagemann, S. H., Feldman, P. A., and Gribbin, J. R., Nature, 224, 875 (1969).
Burbidge, G. R., and Burbidge, E. M., Nature, 222, 21 (1969).
Burbidge, G. R., Astrophys. J. Lett., 154, 41 (1968).
Jeffreys, H., Theory of Probability, 88 (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1939).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
WESSELINK, A. Physical Sciences: How Significant are the Sharp Peaks in the Frequency Distribution of QSO Redshifts?. Nature 225, 927–928 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/225927a0
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/225927a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
