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Measuring accurately the rate of expansion of the universe is not an easy task. This week, NASA announced that the most accurate measurements to date have been obtained recently using both the Hubble Telescope and the Gaia Space Observatory of the European Space Agency. The combined strength of the two badets places the uncertainty of the new measures at only 2.2%.
The new data has some really fascinating implications. The expansion measures, recorded through a combination of Hubble and Gaia, provide further evidence of the different rates of the near universe and the early universe.
The tension between the two different expansion rates might suggest a new physics. can enable us to better understand the fundamentals of the universe itself. There is already speculation on whether this tension could indicate the dark matter's interaction strength or the presence of an unknown particle before.
Hubble and Gaia also refined the value of Hubble's constant. expanding since the big bang. The Hubble constant is crucial in determining the age of the universe and remains one of the most difficult issues of our time.
The most recent value was established by measuring the distance between galaxies by tracing the light between them. The distances were then compared to the rate of expansion of the space in order to find the value of the Hubble constant. These values, however, are totally at odds with earlier measures taken by the Planck mission of the European Space Agency.
The Planck data was largely based part on the measurement of undulations in the cosmological background. ), which provides a coded signature of the big bang. By measuring these ripples, they could determine dark and normal matter levels, as well as the trajectory of the universe at the time of the big bang.
Through this, the Planck mission sought to predict the rate of expansion of our near universe, but new discoveries from Hubble and Gaia revealed that these predictions were false.
Adam Riess, of the Institute of Space Telescope Sciences, has described it as follows: "It's like if you predict the size of a child. From 1965 to 1991, Planck's predictions placed the rate of expansion of the near universe at 67 km / h per megaparsec. The new Hubble and Gaia measurements, however, place it at 45.6 miles (73.5 km) per second per megaparsec. Needless to say, new discoveries have many scientists scratching their heads.
Riess and his team plan to continue using Gaia to better refine the Hubble constant at a value of only one percent in the early 2020s. This latest research will be instrumental in their efforts to refine the Hubble constant, as well as to better understand the fundamentals of the universe.
Although the results have been surprising, it's undeniably an exciting discovery that has the potential to radically change much of what we understand from the expansion of the universe.
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