Abstract
Arp and Hazard1 have reported several peculiar alignments of quasars, alignments which are exact to the limit of resolution on a Schmidt plate (2 arc s). We report here our investigation of the claim that the probability of such alignments occurring purely by chance is exceedingly small. Because the correct statistical analysis is not immediately obvious, we have performed a series of computer experiments to investigate how often such alignments will occur by chance.
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References
Arp, H. & Hazard, C. Astrophys. J. 240, 726 (1980).
Savage, A. & Bolton, J. G. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 188, 599 (1979).
Kendal, M. G. & Moran, P. Geometrical Probability (Griffin, London, 1963).
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Edmunds, M., George, G. Random alignment of quasars. Nature 290, 481–483 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/290481a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/290481a0
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