The Cold Spot at 123.4 Degrees: A Founding-Profile Feature or a Supervoid Shadow
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Paper 2 of 3 in the CMB anomalies series. The Cold Spot sits at polar angle 123.40 degrees from the founding (alignment) axis of Paper 1. The standard reading is computed at its own numbers: the Eridanus supervoid's expected ISW and Rees-Sciama decrement is about -20 microK against the spot's -150 microK central decrement - present, aligned, and insufficient by a factor of several at standard amplitude, so the supervoid reading is constrained to a minority contribution and survives in full only if the ISW amplitude is anomalous at the factor-of-five level. The frame reading is computed from the founding profile at multipoles 2 and 3: the branch in which the spot is a positive-profile feature is excluded within those multipoles (profile ring minima are confined to (63.43, 116.57) degrees; the spot sits at 123.40 degrees, 6.83 degrees outside); the opposite-sign branch remains alive at exactly A3/A2 = +2.1406, with three companion predictions. Extending the profile to multipoles 4 and 5 is refused: with those coefficients undetermined, the spot's latitude could be fitted, and this program does not fit. The discriminating observable between the two readings is named: the azimuthal average about the founding axis. Deposited manuscript: register-corrected version (wording only; every number unchanged).
Author: Aldred, William Alexander
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225461202