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21 July 2010
New Technique Could Track Down Dark Energy
From an NRAO press release: Dark energy is the label scientists have given to what is causing the Universe to expand at an accelerating rate, and is believed to make up nearly three-fourths of the mass and energy of the Universe. While the acceleration was discovered in 1998, its cause remains unknown. Physicists have advanced [...]
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18 March 2010
This is Getting Boring: General Relativity Passes Yet another Big Test!
Published in 1915, Einstein's theory of general relativity (GR) passed its first big test just a few years later, when the predicted gravitational deflection of light passing near the Sun was observed during the 1919 solar eclipse. In 1960, GR passed its first big test in a lab, here on Earth; the Pound-Rebka experiment. And over [...]
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02 March 2010
Using Gravitational Lensing to Measure Age and Size of Universe
Handy little tool, this gravitational lensing! Astronomers have used it to measure the shape of stars, look for exoplanets, and measure dark matter in distant galaxies. Now its being used to measure the age and size of the Universe. Researchers say this new use of gravitation lensing provides a very precise way [...]
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21 February 2010
Dark Matter in Distant Galaxy Groups Mapped for the First Time
Galaxy density in the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field, with colors representing the redshift of the galaxies, ranging from redshift of 0.2 (blue) to 1 (red). Pink x-ray contours show the extended x-ray emission as observed by XMM-Newton. Dark matter (actually cold, dark – non-baryonic – matter) can be detected only by its gravitational influence. In [...]
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20 February 2010
ESA's Tough Choice: Dark Matter, Sun Close Flyby, Exoplanets (Pick Two)
Key questions relevant to fundamental physics and cosmology, namely the nature of the mysterious dark energy and dark matter (Euclid); the frequency of exoplanets around other stars, including Earth-analogs (PLATO); take the closest look at our Sun yet possible, approaching to just 62 solar radii (Solar Orbiter) … but only two! What would be your [...]
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08 February 2010
Universe to WMAP: ΛCDM Rules, OK?
The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) science team has finished analyzing seven full years' of data from the little probe that could, and once again it seems we can sum up the universe in six parameters and a model. Using the seven-year WMAP data, together with recent results on the large-scale distribution of galaxies, and an [...]
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12 August 2009
Variability in Type 1A Supernovae Has Implications for Studying Dark Energy
The discovery of dark energy, a mysterious force that is accelerating the expansion of the universe, was based on observations of type 1a supernovae, and these stellar explosions have long been used as "standard candles" for measuring the expansion. But not all type 1A supernovae are created equal. A new study reveals sources [...]
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08 June 2009
New Cosmic “Yardstick” Could Help Understand Dark Energy
A new method for measuring large astronomical distances is providing researchers with a cosmic yardstick to determine precisely how far away distant galaxies are. This could also offer a way to help determine how fast the Universe is expanding, as well as the nature of the mysterious Dark Energy that pervades the Universe. “We [...]
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07 May 2009
Astronomers Closing in on Dark Energy with Refined Hubble Constant
The name “dark energy” is just a placeholder for the force — whatever it is — that is causing the Universe to expand. But astronomers are perhaps getting closer to understanding this force with new observations of several Cepheid variable stars by the Hubble Space Telescope, which has refined the measurement of the [...]
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22 April 2009
Dark Matter, Dark Energy; Now There’s “Dark Gulping”
For all you dark matter and dark energy fans out there, now there’s another new “dark” to add to the list. It’s called “dark gulping,” and it involves a process which may explain how supermassive black holes were able to form in the early universe. Astronomers from the University College of London (UCL) [...]
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16 February 2009
Cosmologists Search for Gravity Waves to Prove Inflation Theory
During the next decade, cosmologists will attempt to observe the first moments of the Universe, hoping to prove a popular theory. They'll be searching for extremely weak gravity waves to measure primordial light, looking for convincing evidence for the Cosmic Inflation Theory, which proposes that a random, microscopic density fluctuation in the fabric of [...]
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07 February 2009
Next-Generation Telescope Gets Team
  Astronomy organizations in the United States, Australia and Korea have signed on to build the largest ground-based telescope in the world – unless another team gets there first. The Giant Magellan Telescope, or GMT, will have the resolving power of a single 24.5-meter (80-foot) primary mirror, which will make it three times more powerful than any of the Earth's [...]
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12 January 2009
Profiling Potential Supernovae
Just as psychologists and detectives try to "profile" serial killers and other criminals, astronomers are trying to determine what type of star system will explode as a supernova. While criminals can sometimes be caught or rehabilitated before they do the crime, supernovae, well, there's no stopping them. But there's the potential of [...]
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31 December 2008
More Evidence Earth is Not Center of Universe
If you're certain the Universe revolves around you, I have some bad news for you. Researchers from the University of British Columbia say Earth's location in the Universe is utterly unremarkable, despite recent theories that propose Earth is at the center of a giant void in space. A decade ago, it was discovered [...]
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16 December 2008
No "Big Rip" in our Future: Chandra Provides Insights Into Dark Energy
When you throw a ball up into the air, you expect gravity will eventually slow the ball, and it will come back down again. But what if you threw a ball up into the air and instead of coming back down, it accelerated away from you? That's basically what is happening with our [...]
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