Observational manifestations of prerecombination protoobjects

We consider the image formation for. an extremely distant source in an optically dense, homogeneous, and isotropic medium. We show that the angular size of the image would presently be theta(0) approximate to 10', irrespective of the initial redshift z. Parameters of the inhomogeneities capable of producing the observed effect were estimated. We note that this effect should be taken into account for the baryon density fluctuations that were damped according to Silk at the prerecombination epoch. The spot radiation spectrum is shown to be a diluted Planckian spectrum with a dilution factor much larger than unity. We also point out the presence of peculiar tangential polarization in the spot, which reaches several tens of percent at the spot edge. All these observational features clearly distinguish the fluctuations under consideration from the standard fluctuations. (C) 2003 MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica.