The universe is expanding at a slower rate than expected – Interia

Yesterday, April 23 (14:50)

The astronomers discovered that the universe is expanding at a slower rate than expected.

The new supernova captured by satellite Swift

/ NASA

What awaits our universe in the future? A group of physicists has developed a hypothesis “cosmological collapse”, according to which it will cease to expand and collapse to the inside, and with it the whole matter as we know it. Calculations indicate that it is inevitable and will happen in a few billion … read more

So far, measuring the speed of expansion of the universe, scientists used the Type Ia supernovae, which arise as a result of the explosion of white dwarfs. Since all known objects of this type seem to be identical, you could use them as cosmic beacons transmitting signals from distant corners of the universe. This makes it possible to measure the rate of expansion of the universe.

study conducted by researchers at the University of Arizona with the Hubble Space Telescope and the Swift satellite have shown that the brightness of Type Ia supernovae may be significantly waver. Swift satellite picked up the emitted radiation within the visible light is similar in all objects, while the ultraviolet is different. You can see the shift czerwieniu or towards blue.

Thanks to this research, astronomers have identified two groups of Type Ia supernovae. Some of them are closer to the Earth than previously thought, so all calculations performed had to be regarded as invalid. Therefore, if the universe is expanding at a slower pace than expected, the nature of dark energy and matter must be tested again.

This article is excerpted from the category: kosmos.raport.astronomia