Thanks to decades of data from the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists have a new, more accurate measurement of the expansion of the universe.
The Hubble Space Telescope has been used to better understand how quickly the universe expands and how much it is expanding.
The Hubble Constant is the number of telescopes used to measure the expansion. The Hubble Constant is difficult to pin down because different observatories have delivered different answers. There is still a difference from other observatories, but a new study shows that Hubble's most recent effort is precise for the expansion it sees.
The new study shows that the expansion rate is roughly 45 miles per megaparsec.
The Hubble Space Telescope has the best images of all time.
There is only a one-in-a-million chance that astronomer will be wrong due to an unlucky draw, NASA said in a statement on Thursday.
The Space Telescope Science Institute that manages Hubble has affiliations with Riess.
Riess and his team received the prize in 2011 after Hubble and other telescopes confirmed the expansion of the universe. Riess calls this latest Hubble effort a "magnum opus" given that it draws upon practically the telescope's entire history to deliver an answer.
The observed expansion rate was nailed down by Hubble under a program called SHOES. NASA stated that the dataset includes more than 1,000 Hubble orbits. The new measurement is eight times more precise than expected.
Two distance markers are used to measure how fast the universe is expanding. The utility of the variable stars known as the Cepheid stars has been known since 1912, when astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt marked their importance in imagery she was reviewing.
It is possible to see distances inside the Milky Way and in nearby galaxies with the help of cepheids. Astronomers rely on Type 1a supernovas for further distances. The supernovas have a consistent luminosity, which allows for precise estimates of their distance based on how bright they appear in telescopes.
The team measured 42 of the supernova milepost markers with Hubble. Hubble has been in space for about 32 years and has been able to log as many supernovae as possible for measuring the universe's expansion.
The expansion rate does not have full agreement. The new study says Hubble's measurement is roughly 45 miles per megaparsec. The rate slows down when you take into account the deep universe.
Deep universe observations rely on the European Space Agency's Planck mission, which observed the "echo" of the Big Bang that formed our universe. The echo is a microwave background. NASA suggested we may have to rethink basic physics if we don't figure out why there are two different values.
Riess said it was best to see the expansion rate not for its exact value, but for its implications.
In the next 20 years, more data is expected from the James Webb Space Telescope, which is currently in the process of being built. NASA said that it will look at Cepheids and Type 1a supernovas at greater distances or sharper resolution than Hubble can see.
The paper will be published in the journal. There is a preprint version on arXiv.org.
Follow Elizabeth on social media. Follow us on social media.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
