The Universe is expanding at a speed that astrophysicists cannot justify. “We have to take this problem very seriously,” they say.
Scientists have long known that our Universe is expanding, but the exact speed what is growing is an ongoing debate in the world of astronomy, explains .
A, known as the “Hubble constant“, helps scientists map the structure of the Universe and understand its state billions of years after the Big Bang. Now, one published in The Astrophysical Journal on December 9 suggests that it may be necessary rethink our understanding of the universe itself.
NASA’s Webb Telescope, the most powerful space observatory ever, is responsible for this discovery. “Webb’s data is like we’re looking at the universe in high definition for the first time and really improve the signal-to-noise ratio of measurements”, says Siang Li, from Johns Hopkins University who collaborated on the study.
The research is based on Adam Riess’ discovery that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating due to a mysterious “dark energy” that permeates the vast expanses of space between stars and galaxies.
“The discrepancy between the observed expansion rate of the Universe and the predictions of the standard model suggests that our understanding of the Universe may be incomplete”, says the Nobel Prize laureate and lead author of the discovery, Adam RiessBloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University, in a statement cited by Study Finds.
“With two of NASA’s flagship telescopes now confirming each other’s discoveries, We have to take this problem very seriously — it’s a challenge, but also an incredible opportunity to learn more about our universe,” he says.
While theoretical models predict that the Universe should be expanding at about 67-68 kilometers per second per megaparsec (unit of cosmic distance), telescope observations consistently show a faster rate of 70-76 kilometers per second per megaparsec, with an average of about 73. This significant discrepancy is what scientists call “Hubble voltage”.
“A possible explanation for the Hubble tension would be the existence of something missing in our understanding of the early universesuch as a new component of matter – primitive dark energy – that gave the universe an unexpected boost after the Big Bang”, explains Marc Kamionkowskicosmologist at Johns Hopkins.
“And there are other ideas, like funny properties of dark matter, exotic particles, changing electron mass or primordial magnetic fieldswhich may have done the trick. Theorists have license to be very creative”, he concludes.
