PROBLEMS FOR COLD DARK MATTER AND THE 'GREAT ATTRACTOR' 

There are now 20 quasars known above a redshift of z=4, seven of which have had their nature and redshift confirmed using the INT. One third of the 36 highest known redshift quasars have been discovered by the ING.

Further problems with the Cold Dark Matter model were revealed in an analysis of large-scale galaxy clustering published recently. The researchers undertook an all-sky redshift survey of IRAS galaxies: 1211 new redshifts were obtained, the great majority with the WHT, with some from the INT and other telescopes. Other redshifts were obtained from the literarure or unpublished sources. The result was a uniform all-sky sample encompassing a larger volume of the Universe than any previous redshift survey and a map of the distribution of galaxies within a radius of 150h^-1 Mpc. A clustering analysis of this map showed that the variation in density of galaxies over the Universe is inconsistent with the predictions of the Cold Dark Matter model.

The same reseachers used the map of the distibution of galaxies on the Local Group of Galaxies, and deduce the corresponding perculiar motion of the Local Group. They found that the acceleration acting on the Local Group is generated by a dozen or so clusters within 100h^-1Mpc, and the velocity of the Local Group with respect to the microwave background radiation of 600 kms^-1 can be explained provided the Universe has a density close to the critical value. No additional clusters located behind the galactic plane are needed to account for the Local Group motion, and there is no very large structure behind the Centaurus cluster capable of generating the claimed streaming motions of 1000kms^-1, so the rationale for the 'Great Attractor' appears to have faded.