The universe is expanding even faster than expected

[727Sky]

Something interesting about everything we see and do not see in the universe.

The universe is expanding even faster than expected... See link for complete article

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20...122506.htm

Date: June 2, 2016 Source: Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) Summary: Hubble Space Telescope astronomers have discovered that the universe is expanding 5-9% percent faster than expected. They made the discovery by refining the universe's current expansion rate to unprecedented accuracy, reducing the uncertainty to only 2.4%. The team made the refinements by developing innovative techniques that improved the precision of distance measurements to faraway galaxies. These measurements are fundamental to making more precise calculations of how fast the universe expands with time, a value called the Hubble constant.

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that the universe is expanding 5 percent to 9 percent faster than expected.
"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 study leader and Nobel Laureate Adam Riess of the Space Telescope Science Institute and The Johns Hopkins University, both in Baltimore, Maryland.
The results will appear in an upcoming issue of The Astrophysical Journal.
Riess' team made the discovery by refining the universe's current expansion rate to unprecedented accuracy, reducing the uncertainty to only 2.4 percent. The team made the refinements by developing innovative techniques that improved the precision of distance measurements to faraway galaxies.
The team looked for galaxies containing both Cepheid stars and Type Ia supernovae. 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. 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

[DuckforcoveR]

This is absolutely mind-blowing. To think that at our current (known / practiced privately) technology level the universe is actually getting smaller is fascinating. Granted, I (or probably us as a species) won't be around to see when it's fully at "double" the distance between objects, the further everything travels away is probably still faster than our advances at getting fast enough just to keep up with expansion.

Hell, if it didn't expand we'd probably still be pretty far off from being able to travel any measurable distance. Again, at our "current known / practiced" speed