“A “galactic lens” has revealed that the Universe will probably expand forever. Astronomers used the way that light from distant stars was distorted by a huge galactic cluster known as Abell 1689 to work out the amount of dark energy in the cosmos. Dark energy is a mysterious force that speeds up the expansion of the Universe. Understanding the distribution of this force revealed that the likely fate of the Universe was to keep on expanding. It will eventually become a cold, dead wasteland, researchers say.
The study, conducted by an international team led by Professor Eric Jullo of Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, is published in the journal Science. Dark energy makes up three-quarters of our Universe but is totally invisible. We only know it exists because of its effect on the expansion of the Universe. To work out how dark energy is spread through space, astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to observe the way that light from distant stars was distorted around Abell 1689, a nearby cluster of galaxies.
Abell 1689, found in the constellation of Virgo, is one of the biggest galactic clusters known to science. Because of its huge mass, the cluster acts as a cosmic magnifying glass, causing light to bend around it. The way in which light is distorted by this cosmic lens depends on three factors: how far away the distant object is; the mass of Abell 1689; and the distribution of dark energy. The astronomers were able to measure the first two variables using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, enabling them to calculate this crucial third factor.”
Read more at BBC News (Thanks Tracey)
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What moronic reporting!
What the hell is “dark energy”. Dark matter is what this is about and doesn’t “speed up the expansion of the universe”. It’s just the part of the mass of the universe we can’t see so it wasn’t known how heavy the whole universe is, hence this study.
Anything with greater mass takes longer to slow down so the question is an important one.
I suppose I should be complaining to BBC not here but thanks for pointing out the dumbass writing…. interesting subject though…
Yeah sure, it’ll expand forever… that is until it runs out of energy and instead of imploding; now it just stops. Yeah, perhaps not quite as catastrophic a theory as the “Big bang” followed by implosion… but does it have to be a cold, desolate wasteland? What about a melange of galaxies that froth about in dubious energy for all time? (time being an expression of eternity and/or when God decides that’s enough and packs the whole thing up.) Either way I suppose its always going to end one way or another. I’d just hate to be those people stuck in the cold, desolate wasteland that’s all. It doesn’t have the same gravitas of a universe implosion either.
One thing I’ve never been able to understand: The universe is expanding…in to WHAT? What’s the space outside that it’s expanding in to?!
Tim:
“In physical cosmology, astronomy and celestial mechanics, dark energy is a hypothetical form of energy that permeates all of space and tends to increase the rate of expansion of the universe. Dark energy is the most popular way to explain recent observations and experiments that the universe appears to be expanding at an accelerating rate. In the standard model of cosmology, dark energy currently accounts for 74% of the total mass-energy of the universe.”
(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_energy )
Jess…it is creating the space it is expanding into…i think
So it’s like God, but a bit more tangible?