Possible interpretations of the magnitude-redshift relation for supernovaeof type Ia

It has been shown by Riess et al. and Perlmutter et al. that the observed r edshift-magnitude relation for supernovae of type Ia, which suggests that t he deceleration parameter q(0) is negative, can be explained in a Friedmann model with a positive cosmological constant. We show that a quasi-steady s tate cosmology (QSSC) model can also fit the supernova data. Since most of the emphasis and publicity have been concentrated on explanations involving the Friedmann model, we show how a good fit can be obtained to the observa tions in the framework of the QSSC. Using this model, we show that absorpti on due to intergalactic dust may play an important role. This may explain w hy a few of the supernovae observed show large deviations from the curve de termined by the majority of the data.