Resolved Quasars: A Test for the Expansion of the Universe

A long standing proposal to use surface brightness as a test of the expansion of the universe is reconsidered in the light of recent observations of diffuse images around distant quasars. The present data points toward the standard cosmological models rather than 'tired light' models, but is not definitive due to the effects of atmospheric seeing. Use of the Space Telescope to observe very distant quasars for such extended images should provide an unequivocal answer. Even the present data poses severe problems for the 'non-cosmological' hypothesis of quasar redshifts.