{"id":12715,"date":"2016-06-02T12:52:04","date_gmt":"2016-06-02T16:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12715"},"modified":"2016-06-02T12:52:04","modified_gmt":"2016-06-02T16:52:04","slug":"new-hubble-measurements-show-universe-expanding-faster-than-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12715","title":{"rendered":"New Hubble measurements show universe expanding faster than expected"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new finding from the\u00a0NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope<\/a><\/p>\n

Hubble finds Universe may be expanding faster than expected<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Astronomers have used Hubble to measure the distances to stars in nineteen galaxies more accurately than previously possible. They found that the Universe is currently expanding faster than the rate derived from measurements of the Universe shortly after the Big Bang. If confirmed, this apparent inconsistency may be an important clue to understanding three of the Universe\u2019s most elusive components: dark matter, dark energy and neutrinos.<\/p>\n

\"For<\/a>
For the calibration of relatively short distances the team observed Cepheid variables. These are pulsating stars which fade and brighten at rates that are proportional to their true brightness and this property allows astronomers to determine their distances. The researchers calibrated the distances to the Cepheids using a basic geometrical technique called parallax. With Hubble\u2019s sharp-eyed Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), they extended the parallax measurements further than previously possible, across the Milky Way galaxy. To get accurate distances to nearby galaxies, the team then looked for galaxies containing both Cepheids and Type Ia supernovae. Type Ia supernovae always have the same intrinsic brightness and are also bright enough to be seen at relatively large distances. By comparing the observed brightness of both types of stars in those nearby galaxies, the team could then accurately measure the true brightness of the supernova. Using this calibrated rung on the distance ladder the accurate distance to additional 300 type Ia supernovae in far-flung galaxies was calculated. They compare those distance measurements with how the light from the supernovae is stretched to longer wavelengths by the expansion of space. Finally, they use these two values to calculate how fast the universe expands with time, called the Hubble constant. [Larger diagram<\/a>]<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>A team of astronomers, led by Nobel Laureate Adam Riess<\/a> and using the NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, have discovered that the Universe is expanding between five and nine percent faster than previously calculated. This is in clear discrepancy with the rate predicted from measurements of the infant Universe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis surprising finding may be an important clue to understanding those mysterious parts of the Universe that make up 95 percent of everything and don\u2019t emit light, such as dark energy, dark matter, and dark radiation,\u201d explains Adam Riess of the Space Telescope Science Institute and the Johns Hopkins University, both in Baltimore, USA.<\/em><\/p>\n

One possible explanation for this unexpectedly fast expansion of the Universe is a new type of subatomic particle that may have changed the balance of energy in the early Universe, so called dark radiation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The team made the discovery by refining the measurement of how fast the Universe is expanding, a value called the Hubble constant<\/a>, to unprecedented accuracy, reducing the uncertainty to only 2.4 percent [1]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\u00a0<\/a>
This image<\/a> taken with the NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows one of the galaxies in the survey to refine the measurement for how fast the Universe expands with time, called the Hubble constant. The galaxy, UGC 9391, contains two types of stars that astronomers use to calculate accurate distances to galaxies, a key measurement in determining the Hubble constant: Cepheid variables (marked with red circles) which pulsate at rates that correspond to their true brightness; and a Type Ia supernova (the blue cross indicates the position of the supernova 2003du). These supernovae are another commonly used cosmic yardstick. They flare with the same brightness and are brilliant enough to be seen from relatively longer distances. Astronomers calibrate the supernovae with the Cepheids in galaxies such as UGC 9391 so that they can accurately calculate the distances to faraway exploding stars. UGC 9391 itself resides about 130 million light-years from Earth.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This new measurement presents a puzzle because it does not agree with the expansion rate found by looking at the moments shortly after the Big Bang. Measurements of the afterglow from the Big Bang from NASA\u2019s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)<\/a> and the European Space Agency\u2019s Planck satellite<\/a> mission yield smaller predictions for the Hubble constant.<\/p>\n

Comparing the Universe\u2019s expansion rate as calculated by WMAP and Planck (for the time after the Big Bang) and Hubble (for our modern Universe) is like building a bridge, Riess explains:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou start at two ends, and you expect to meet in the middle if all of your drawings are right and your measurements are right. But now the ends are not quite meeting in the middle and we want to know why.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This refined determination of the Hubble constant was made possible by making precise measurements of the distances to both nearby and faraway galaxies using Hubble [2]<\/a>. The improved distance measurements were made by streamlining and strengthening the cosmic distance ladder<\/a>, which astronomers use to measure accurate distances to galaxies. The team compared these measured distances with the expansion of space as measured by the stretching of light from receding galaxies<\/a> and these two values were then used to calculate the Hubble constant.<\/p>\n

The team is continuing to use Hubble with the aim of reducing the uncertainty in the Hubble constant even further, their goal being to reach an uncertainty of just 1 percent. Current telescopes such as the European Space Agency\u2019s Gaia satellite<\/a>, and future telescopes such as the NASA\/ESA\/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)<\/a> and the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT)<\/a> could also help astronomers make better measurements of the expansion rate and lead to a better understanding of our Universe and the laws that govern it.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/cdn.spacetelescope.org\/archives\/videos\/medium_podcast\/heic1611a.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a>[1] Before Hubble was launched in 1990, estimates of the Hubble constant varied by a factor of two. In the late 1990s the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale refined the value of the Hubble constant to within 10 percent, accomplishing one of the telescope\u2019s key goals. The new, improved Hubble constant value is 73.02 kilometres per second per Megaparsec (where one Megaparsec is equivalent to 3.26 million light-years).<\/p>\n

<\/a>[2] For the calibration of relatively short distances the team observed Cepheid variables. These are pulsating stars which fade and brighten at rates that are proportional to their true brightness and this property allows astronomers to determine their distances. The researchers calibrated the distances to the Cepheids using a basic geometrical technique called parallax. With Hubble\u2019s sharp-eyed Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3)<\/a>, they extended the parallax measurements further than previously possible, across the Milky Way galaxy. To get accurate distances to nearby galaxies, the team then looked for galaxies containing both Cepheids and Type Ia supernovae. Type Ia supernovae always have the same intrinsic brightness and are also bright enough to be seen at relatively large distances. By comparing the observed brightness of both types of stars in those nearby galaxies, the team could then accurately measure the true brightness of the supernova. Using this calibrated rung on the distance ladder the accurate distance to additional 300 type Ia supernovae in far-flung galaxies was calculated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new finding from the\u00a0NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Hubble finds Universe may be expanding faster than expected Astronomers have used Hubble to measure the distances to stars in nineteen galaxies more accurately than previously possible. They found that the Universe is currently expanding faster than the rate derived from measurements of the Universe shortly after … Continue reading New Hubble measurements show universe expanding faster than expected<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-astronomy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-3j5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13806,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=13806","url_meta":{"origin":12715,"position":0},"title":"Hubble telescope sees faster than expected expansion of the Universe","author":"TopSpacer","date":"January 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The latest cosmic finding with the\u00a0Hubble Space Telescope: Cosmic lenses support finding on faster than expected expansion of the Universe By using galaxies as giant gravitational lenses, an international group of astronomers using the NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has made an independent measurement of how fast the Universe is expanding.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/heic1702a1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13341,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=13341","url_meta":{"origin":12715,"position":1},"title":"Hubble: Observable universe holds ten times more galaxies than previously thought","author":"TopSpacer","date":"October 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The latest\u00a0finding with the\u00a0Hubble space telescope: Observable Universe contains ten times more galaxies than previously thought Astronomers using data from the NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescopes and other telescopes have performed an accurate census of the number of galaxies in the Universe. 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