In a blip in cosmic time, protons and electrons combined to form neutral hydrogen atoms. Unlike the current universe, which has expanses of "empty" space dotted by dense galaxies of stars, this plasma was nearly evenly distributed across that ancient universe.Īs the universe expanded and became less dense, it cooled. It was so dense that it trapped all energy, including light. This plasma was vastly different from anything today. Just after the Big Bang, the universe was much smaller and composed of an extremely high-energy plasma. Whether the universe is expanding or contracting depends on which force dominates, gravity or dark energy. Gravity pulls galaxies closer together dark energy pushes them apart. Since then, gravity and dark energy have engaged in a cosmic tug of war. The energy from the Big Bang drove the universe's early expansion. The Start of the Universeīefore scientists can understand what is causing the universe to expand now, they need to know what happened in the past. DOE's Office of Science is supporting a number of projects to investigate dark energy to better understand this phenomenon. Something unknown that both lies outside our current understanding of the laws of physics and is the major influence on the growth of the universe adds up to one of the biggest mysteries in physics. Based on its effects, they estimate dark energy could make up 70 percent of the combined mass and energy of the universe. While astrophysicists know little about it, they often use "dark energy" as shorthand for the cause of this expansion. "Whatever is driving cosmic acceleration is likely to dominate the future evolution of the universe," said Josh Frieman, a researcher at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Fermilab and director of the Dark Energy Survey. Astrophysicists call this phenomenon "cosmic acceleration." But in 1998, astrophysicists were quite surprised when their observations showed that the universe was expanding ever faster.
Based on the fact that gravity pulls galaxies together, Albert Einstein's theory predicted that the universe should be expanding more slowly over time. Fortunately, this won't happen for billions of years.īut it's not supposed to be this way – at least according to theory. In fact, we'll only be able to spot a few cosmic objects outside of the Milky Way. If this continues, almost all other galaxies will be so far away from us that one day, we won't be able to spot them with even the most sophisticated equipment. The universe is growing a little bigger, a little faster, every day.
0 kommentar(er)
