Talk given at Second Aegean Summer School on the Early Universe
astro-ph/0402065

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OBSERVATIONAL COSMOLOGY

R.H. Sanders

Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, Groningen, The Netherlands


Abstract. I discuss the classical cosmological tests - angular size-redshift, flux-redshift, and galaxy number counts - in the light of the cosmology prescribed by the interpretation of the CMB anisotropies. The discussion is somewhat of a primer for physicists, with emphasis upon the possible systematic uncertainties in the observations and their interpretation. Given the curious composition of the Universe inherent in the emerging cosmological model, I stress the value of searching for inconsistencies rather than concordance, and suggest that the prevailing mood of triumphalism in cosmology is premature.


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