The supernova Hubble diagram for off-center observers in a spherically symmetric inhomogeneous universe

Abstract

We have previously shown that spherically symmetric, inhomogeneous universe models can explain both the supernova data and the location of the first peak in the CMB spectrum without resorting to dark energy. In this work, we investigate whether it is possible to get an even better fit to the supernova data by allowing the observer to be positioned away from the origin in the spherically symmetric coordinate system. In such a scenario, the observer sees an anisotropic relation between redshifts and the luminosity distances of supernovae. The level of anisotropy allowed by the data will then constrain how far away from the origin the observer can be located, and possibly even allow for a better fit. Our analysis shows that the fit is indeed improved, but not by a significant amount. Furthermore, it shows that the supernova data do not place a rigorous constraint on how far off-center the observer can be located.