Observations indicate that other galaxies are moving away from our Milky Way at a much faster rate than previously calculated, according to the US-based ABC News.
Nobel laureate Adam Riess, affiliated with NASA’s Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, stated that the latest update on the Hubble constant and the measurements of galaxy distances suggest that the universe’s expansion has doubled compared to previous estimates.
Based on observations, galaxies are moving away from the Milky Way at a faster rate than before – Photo: ABC7.
Riess’s team affirms, “The rate of cosmic expansion and the marked galaxy distances, which have been the gold standard of astrophysics, still stand as the most accurate measurements.”
Scientists are examining the new data from the 32-year-old Hubble Space Telescope in an effort to determine how fast the universe is expanding and how much that expansion is accelerating. This is done through a number known as the Hubble constant, named after astronomers Edwin P. Hubble and Georges Lemaître, who first attempted to measure the universe in 1929.
The Hubble constant is a highly significant value, providing scientists with insights into the universe from ancient times to the present.
However, the underlying cause of this peculiar phenomenon in our universe still eludes scientists.
NASA officials stated in a press release, “The reason behind this strangeness remains a mystery. However, something extraordinary is happening, which could be related to an entirely new physical transformation.”