NASA debunks one alternate theory to dark energy
March 15th, 2011 - 3:16 pm ICT by ANI
Washington, March 15 (ANI): Astronomers have ruled out an alternate theory on the nature of dark energy by using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
The theory was ruled out after recalculating the expansion rate of the universe to unprecedented accuracy.
The universe appears to be expanding at an increasing rate. Some
believe that is because the universe is filled with a dark energy that
works in the opposite way of gravity. One alternative to that hypothesis is that an enormous bubble of relatively empty space eight billion light-years across surrounds our galactic neighborhood. If we lived near the center of this void, observations of galaxies being pushed away from each other at accelerating speeds would be an illusion.
This hypothesis has been invalidated because astronomers have refined
their understanding of the universe’s present expansion rate.
Adam Riess of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and Johns
Hopkins University in Baltimore, led the research. The Hubble observations were conducted by the SHOES (Supernova Ho for the Equation of State) team that works to refine the accuracy of the Hubble constant to a precision that allows for a better characterization of dark energy’s behavior.
The observations helped determine a figure for the universe’s current expansion rate to an uncertainty of just 3.3 percent.
The new measurement reduces the error margin by 30 percent over Hubble’s previous best measurement in 2009.
“We are using the new camera on Hubble like a policeman’s radar gun to catch the universe speeding. It looks more like it’s dark energy that’s pressing the gas pedal,” said Riess.
The results will appear in the April 1 issue of The Astrophysical
Journal. (ANI)
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