STScI: Cosmic Magnifying Glasses Measure Universe's Expansion

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bystander
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STScI: Cosmic Magnifying Glasses Measure Universe's Expansion

Post by bystander » Fri Jan 10, 2020 7:27 pm

Cosmic Magnifying Glasses Yield Independent Measure of Universe's Expansion
NASA | GSFC | STScI | HubbleSite | 2020 Jan 08

New Hubble Measurement Strengthens Discrepancy in Universe's Expansion Rate

STSCI-H-p2004a-f-912x956[1].png
Each of these Hubble Space Telescope snapshots reveals four distorted images of a
background quasar surrounding the central core of a foreground massive galaxy. The
multiple quasar images were produced by the gravity of the foreground galaxy, which
is acting like a magnifying glass by warping the quasar’s light in an effect called
gravitational lensing. Quasars are extremely distant cosmic streetlights produced by
active black holes. The Hubble images were taken between 2003 and 2004 with the
Advanced Camera for Surveys. Credits: NASA, ESA, S.H. Suyu (MPA, Technical Univ
of Munich, and ASIAA) and K.C. Wong (Univ of Tokyo’s Kavli IPMU)

A team of astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has measured the universe's expansion rate using a technique that is completely independent of any previous method.

Knowing the precise value for how fast the universe expands is important for determining the age, size, and fate of the cosmos. Unraveling this mystery has been one of the greatest challenges in astrophysics in recent years. The new study adds evidence to the idea that new theories may be needed to explain what scientists are finding.

The researchers' result further strengthens a troubling discrepancy between the expansion rate, called the Hubble constant, calculated from measurements of the local universe and the rate as predicted from background radiation in the early universe, a time before galaxies and stars even existed.

This latest value represents the most precise measurement yet using the gravitational lensing method, where the gravity of a foreground galaxy acts like a giant magnifying lens, amplifying and distorting light from background objects. This latest study did not rely on the traditional "cosmic distance ladder" technique to measure accurate distances to galaxies by using various types of stars as "milepost markers." Instead, the researchers employed the exotic physics of gravitational lensing to calculate the universe's expansion rate. ...

The research team derived the H0LiCOW value for the Hubble constant through observing and analysis techniques that have been greatly refined over the past two decades.

H0LiCOW and other recent measurements suggest a faster expansion rate in the local universe than was expected based on observations by the European Space Agency's Planck satellite of how the cosmos behaved more than 13 billion years ago.

The gulf between the two values has important implications for understanding the universe's underlying physical parameters and may require new physics to account for the mismatch. ...

H0LiCOW XIII. A 2.4% measurement of H0 from lensed quasars:
5.3σ tension between early and late-Universe probes
~ Kenneth C. Wong et al
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk.
— Garrison Keillor

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Ann
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Re: STScI: Cosmic Magnifying Glasses Measure Universe's Expansion

Post by Ann » Fri Jan 10, 2020 9:07 pm

The value for the Hubble constant measured by the H0LiCOW team is 73 kilometers per second per megaparsec (with 2.4% uncertainty), compared with 67 kilometers per second per megaparsec imprinted on the cosmic background radiation during the earliest epoch of the transparent Universe, as measured by the Planck satellite.

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Re: STScI: Cosmic Magnifying Glasses Measure Universe's Expansion

Post by neufer » Fri Jan 10, 2020 10:29 pm

Ann wrote: Fri Jan 10, 2020 9:07 pm
The value for the Hubble constant measured by the H0LiCOW team is 73 kilometers per second per megaparsec (with 2.4% uncertainty), compared with 67 kilometers per second per megaparsec imprinted on the cosmic background radiation during the earliest epoch of the transparent Universe, as measured by the Planck satellite.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_cow_%28expression%29 wrote:


<<"Holy cow!" (and other similar terms), an exclamation of surprise used mostly in Australia, Canada, England and United States, is a minced oath or euphemism for "Holy Christ!" The expression dates to at least 1905. Its earliest known appearance was in a tongue-in-cheek letter to the editor: "A lover of the cow writes to this column to protest against a certain variety of Hindu oath having to do with the vain use of the name of the milk producer. There is the profane exclamations, 'holy cow!' and, 'By the stomach of the eternal cow!'" The phrase appears to have been adopted as a means to avoid using obscene or indecent language and may have been based on a general awareness of the holiness of cows in some religious traditions.>>
Art Neuendorffer

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Re: STScI: Cosmic Magnifying Glasses Measure Universe's Expansion

Post by Ann » Sat Jan 11, 2020 5:42 am

neufer wrote: Fri Jan 10, 2020 10:29 pm
<<"Holy cow!" (and other similar terms), an exclamation of surprise used mostly in Australia, Canada, England and United States, is a minced oath or euphemism for "Holy Christ!" The expression dates to at least 1905. Its earliest known appearance was in a tongue-in-cheek letter to the editor: "A lover of the cow writes to this column to protest against a certain variety of Hindu oath having to do with the vain use of the name of the milk producer. There is the profane exclamations, 'holy cow!' and, 'By the stomach of the eternal cow!'" The phrase appears to have been adopted as a means to avoid using obscene or indecent language and may have been based on a general awareness of the holiness of cows in some religious traditions.>>

Click to play embedded YouTube video.
In the 1960s the "holys" appear to have been really popular. I guess the holy bovine was one of the few "holys" that Batman's sidekick missed. :wink:

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