![]() ![]() The improved Hubble constant value is 73.2 kilometers per second per megaparsec. ![]() The team used these two values to calculate how fast the universe expands with time, or the Hubble constant. The team compared those distances with the expansion of space as measured by the stretching of light from receding galaxies. Type Ia supernovae, another commonly used cosmic yardstick, are exploding stars that flare with the same brightness and are brilliant enough to be seen from relatively longer distances.īy measuring about 2,400 Cepheid stars in 19 galaxies and comparing the observed brightness of both types of stars, they accurately measured their true brightness and calculated distances to roughly 300 type Ia supernovae in far-flung galaxies. Cepheid stars pulsate at rates that correspond to their true brightness, which can be compared with their apparent brightness as seen from Earth to accurately determine their distance. ![]() The team looked for galaxies containing both Cepheid stars and type Ia supernovae. The team made the refinements by developing innovative techniques that improved the precision of distance measurements to faraway galaxies. Riess’ team made the discovery by refining the universe’s current expansion rate to unprecedented accuracy, reducing the uncertainty to only 2.4 percent. “This surprising finding may be an important clue to understanding those mysterious parts of the universe that make up 95 percent of everything and don’t emit light, such as dark energy, dark matter, and dark radiation,” said Adam Riess of the Space Telescope Science Institute and The Johns Hopkins University, both in Baltimore, Maryland. Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that the universe is expanding five to nine percent faster than expected. ![]()
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