EXPANDING UNIVERSE
Thursday - November 22, 2018 10:37 am ,
Category : Fun Facts
WTN- As galaxies race away from each other. They move not through but with space, for space itself is expanding. The image often used is a loaf of raisin bread. As the dough e=rises, the raisins (representing objects in space , such as galaxies) move away from each other-and so does the dough they rest in . Expansion is a property of the universe as a whole and not just of galaxies.
Edwin Hubble first discovered that the universe is expanding in 1929. In the decades since then, astronomers have turned their attention to the implication of this finding. It countered prevailing idea about the future of the universe, presumed to be a slowing down due to the pull of gravity from all its matter, which would result finally in a collapse that some termed the “big crunch”
With Hubble’s findings, astronomers had to grapple with the implications of a universe that is not only expanding but accelerating as it goes. Many astronomers believe the acceleration is tied to dark energy , a type of antigravity force radiating from deep space.
The nature of dark energy, about which we know very little , might determine the fate of the universe. If dark energy is stable, the universe might continue to expand and accelerate forever. If It is unstable, the universe could ultimately be pulled apart in a scenario dubbed the “ big rip”. If dark energy has the capacity to change, it could gradually decelerate and become an attractive force that contracts the universe in an implosion like a big crunch.
-Window To News
Edwin Hubble first discovered that the universe is expanding in 1929. In the decades since then, astronomers have turned their attention to the implication of this finding. It countered prevailing idea about the future of the universe, presumed to be a slowing down due to the pull of gravity from all its matter, which would result finally in a collapse that some termed the “big crunch”
With Hubble’s findings, astronomers had to grapple with the implications of a universe that is not only expanding but accelerating as it goes. Many astronomers believe the acceleration is tied to dark energy , a type of antigravity force radiating from deep space.
The nature of dark energy, about which we know very little , might determine the fate of the universe. If dark energy is stable, the universe might continue to expand and accelerate forever. If It is unstable, the universe could ultimately be pulled apart in a scenario dubbed the “ big rip”. If dark energy has the capacity to change, it could gradually decelerate and become an attractive force that contracts the universe in an implosion like a big crunch.
-Window To News
