Peculiar motion of the solar system derived from a dipole anisotropy in
  the redshift distribution of distant quasars
  An observer stationary with respect to comoving coordinates of the expanding
universe should find the redshift distribution to be isotropic. However, a
peculiar motion of the observer would introduce a dipole anisotropy in the
observed redshift distribution. Conversely, a dipole anisotropy in observed
redshift distribution could be exploited to infer our peculiar motion, or
rather of our solar system. We determine here our peculiar velocity by studying
the dipole anisotropy in the redshift distribution of a large sample of
quasars. The magnitude of the peculiar velocity thus determined turns out to be
$2350\pm280$ km s$^{-1}$, not only much larger than 370 km s$^{-1}$ determined
from the dipole anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR),
but also nearly in an opposite direction. Such large values for peculiar
velocity have been found in a couple of radio surveys too, but with a direction
along the CMBR dipole. Large genuine differences in the inferred motion,
whether in magnitude or direction, are rather disconcerting since a solar
peculiar velocity should not depend upon the method of its determination. Such
discordant dipoles imply perhaps an anisotropic universe, violating the
cosmological principle, a cornerstone of the modern cosmology.
