Our universe is dying
When one theory said the expansion rate of the universe should be slowing, it was found to be exactly the opposite. And although that the universe is dying was known as early as the 1990’s, I have to admit, this is the first I’ve heard of it.
But just because it’s dying doesn’t mean it’s all over, or that we’re all screwed (as a popular science site noted) … it simply means, at least in our collective life times, it is getting older and less energetic. (Even though the rate of expansion after the big bang continues to increase!). It will just continue converting less and less mass into energy as time goes by.
This is all so perplexing … but quite fascinating.
The article below is well worth the read, and certainly a share with your mates. But don’t stop there, the video at the bottom is absolutely fascinating …
eso1533-en-us — Organization Release
Charting the Slow Death of the Universe
GAMA survey releases first data at IAU General Assembly
10 August 2015
An international team of astronomers studying more than 200 000 galaxies has measured the energy generated within a large portion of space more precisely than ever before. This represents the most comprehensive assessment of the energy output of the nearby Universe. They confirm that the energy produced in a section of the Universe today is only about half what it was two billion years ago and find that this fading is occurring across all wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the far infrared. The Universe is slowly dying.
The study involves many of the world’s most powerful telescopes, including ESO’s VISTA and VST survey telescopes at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. Supporting observations were made by two orbiting space telescopes operated by NASA (GALEX and WISE) and another belonging to the European Space Agency (Herschel) …
…… “We used as many space and ground-based telescopes as we could get our hands on to measure the energy output of over 200 000 galaxies across as broad a wavelength range as possible,” says Simon Driver (ICRAR, The University of Western Australia), who heads the large GAMA team.
…… “While most of the energy sloshing around in the Universe arose in the aftermath of the Big Bang, additional energy is constantly being generated by stars as they fuse elements like hydrogen and helium together,” Simon Driver says. “This new energy is either absorbed by dust as it travels through the host galaxy, or escapes into intergalactic space and travels until it hits something, such as another star, a planet, or, very occasionally, a telescope mirror.”
… “The Universe will decline from here on in, sliding gently into old age. The Universe has basically sat down on the sofa, pulled up a blanket and is about to nod off for an eternal doze,” concludes Simon Driver …
Fly through of the GAMA Galaxy Survey from ICRAR on Vimeo.
The Galaxy and Mass Assembly catalogue is a detailed map of the Universe showing where galaxies are in 3D.
This simulated fly-through shows the real positions and images of the galaxies that have been mapped so far. Distances are to scale, but the galaxy images have been enlarged for your viewing pleasure.
Credit: Made by Will Parr, Dr. Mark Swinbank and Dr. Peder Norberg (Durham University) using data from the SDSS and the GAMA surveys. This work was supported by the Ogden Trust, STFC and the Royal Society.
Music composed and created by Holly Broadbent.
FOR A FULL DESCRIPTION OF WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THAT VIDEO, CHECK OUT THE VIDEO ON THE NEXT PAGE …