A team of astronomers discovered that the universe as we know it, slowly darkens and fades, and the energy emitted by him has decreased in the last 2 billion years by almost half . This conclusion was drawn after examining the 21 wavelengths of light emitted by 200 thousand. galaxies.
The results of the scientists who participated in the project Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) presented at the annual general assembly of the International Union the Astronomy in Honolulu, Hawaii. As stated Team Principal, Prof. Simon Driver of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy in Western Australia, these findings confirm earlier, according to which the cause gradual darkening of the universe is the fact that the number of start-ups of stars steadily declining.
We used so much space and ground telescopes as we were able to measure the energy emissions of more than 200 thousand. galaxies (ie giant collections of stars that have most shaped spiral – PAP) to the extent possible waves – said prof. Driver. It turned out that the rate of formation of new stars that are formed in giant clouds of dust and gas at such a rate that decreases the overall amount of energy emitted by the universe.
Scientists who are involved in the project GAMA intend to make the resulting data to other astronomers to be verified. A lot more of our colleagues, in addition to our team will be able to use this data for further studies, which are extremely important – said Dr. Stephen King from the University of Sussex.
New stars formed less and less, and the old aging
He added, that the new arrangements due to the fact that the researchers used the GAMA project to study a lot more wavebands, than the previous, which focused on just a few. The range covered by ultraviolet light waves to infrared, including a narrow range of visible wavelengths for the human eye. This means that scientists could analyze light both newly celebrities and very old, including light waves that had previously been absorbed by interstellar dust. We know that the formation of new stars has reached its peak a few billion years ago and since then Time steadily declining. We discovered just a new method of measuring the rate of this decline – said Dr. Wilkins. The researchers were able to determine that in the period from approx. 2.25 billion to 0.75 billion years ago the universe of energy emissions decreased by approx. 40 percent. As explained by Dr. Wilkins, this is because the new stars formed less and less and the old – like our Sun – grow older, they become smaller (before advancing to the so-called phase. Red giant) and emit less energy.
Universe in fact sat on the sofa, covered himself with a blanket and intends to sink into an eternal slumber – said Professor vividly. Driver. For consolation, scientists assured that the possible end of the universe is still a very distant and is far too early to predict when they will occur.
The rate of formation of new stars will continue to fall. So we expect that the universe will become darker. However, it should be added that there is a huge degree of uncertainty still do not understand because so many processes in it – said Dr. Wilkins.
Another Big Bang? The question remains open
Covers scientists from the project GAMA also shed new light on the long-known phenomenon called. the escape of galaxies, which is a constant expansion of the universe. It turns out that not only do they emit less light due to the increasing distance, but also because their constituent stars dim slowly. The question of whether the universe is constantly expanding, and at some point will start to shrink to return to the starting point, which will result in another Big Bang, it remains open.
(mal)
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