Globular cluster NGC 2005.
ESA/Hubble & Nasa, F. Niederhofer, L. Girardi
If dark energy isn’t constant, we may need to rewrite the standard model of cosmology.
Illustration of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
Dima Zel / Shutterstock
Some of the earliest galaxies found with JWST are also the brightest. That’s a problem for our ideas about the universe.
Cosmic microwave background shows fluctuations in temperature.
ESA/Planck Collaboration
We may be on the cusp of finally breaking the standard model of cosmology.
ESA/Hubble & Nasa, F. Pacaud, D. Coe
The Hubble tension has been described as a “crisis” for cosmology. Can it be resolved?
JWST/NASA
A new series delves into the big questions surrounding the nature of our universe.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Infrared: (Herschel) ESA/NASA/Caltech, (Spitzer) NASA/JPL/Caltech, (WISE) NASA/JPL/Caltech; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Webb ERO Production Team; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Major
Right now, it looks like cosmology is at a tipping point.
A composite image showing the distribution of dark matter, galaxies and hot gas in the core of a merging galaxy cluster.
(NASA Goddard)
Cosmology does not need dark matter or dark energy in an expanding universe that allows the constants of nature to evolve, and light loses energy as it travels vast distances.
The remains of a Type Ia supernova – a kind of exploding star used to measure distances in the universe.
NASA / CXC / U.Texas
After a decade studying thousands of supernovae, astronomers are still perplexed by the enigma that led Einstein to his ‘greatest mistake’.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/Harvard-Smithsonian CfA
The nature of dark energy remains one of the biggest puzzles in cosmology.
Pablo Carlos Budassi/wikipedia
If we lived in a cosmic area with below average density, it would explain recent contradictory measurements of the universe’s expansion.
The James Webb Space Telescope’s deep field image shows a universe full of sparkling galaxies.
NASA/STScI
The universe is expanding faster than physicists would expect. To figure out what processes underlie this fast expansion rate, some researchers are first trying to rule out what processes can’t.
Dr Norbert Lange/Shutterstock
The universe appears to be fine-tuned for life to evolve.
ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope.
ESO/wikipedia
From improving our understanding of dark matter to revealing the location of Earth 2.0, the Extremely Large Telescope promises answers to some of the biggest scientific questions of our time.
NASA
The Euclid mission is preparing to launch on July 1.
Euclid is set to launch this year on a rocket built by SpaceX.
Work performed by ATG under contract for ESA
A spacecraft set to launch this year will throw a spotlight on the mysterious ‘dark side’ of the universe.
black hole.
Astronomers have found that mysterious dark energy may originate in black holes.
CSIRO/John Masterson
Australian astronomers are part of a prize-winning team that was the first to pinpoint the location of a fast radio burst. But there is much we still don’t know about these mysterious bursts.
This image of the NGC 1398 galaxy, which is located in the Fornax cluster, was taken with the Dark Energy Camera.
Dark Energy Survey/Flickr
Dark energy is probably a sea of constant energy in empty space itself, according to new research.
Shutterstock
More than 70% of the Universe is made of ‘dark energy’, the mysterious stuff even stranger than dark matter
The Conversation 17.1 MB (download)
Today on the podcast, we explore what we know about dark energy, believed to be responsible for the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe.
Dark matter and gas in the universe. There may be more dark matter than we think.
Illustris
A study has suggested that the universe is curved like a sphere rather than flat, which may unleash a major crisis in cosmology.