New Study Shows ‘Dark Energy is Real’
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New results from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer and the Anglo-Australian Telescope atop Siding Spring Mountain in Australia confirm that dark energy (represented by purple grid) is a smooth, uniform force that now dominates over the effects of gravity (green grid).
A new study of over 200,000 galaxies led by Dr. Chris Blake at Swinburne University in Australia has verified Einstein’s theory of gravity and show that “dark energy” is in fact a real phenomenon.
A team of twenty six astronomers participated in the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey, the results of which will be published in two papers in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.  The survey utilized the Angloâ€Australian Telescope to map out the distribution of galaxies in our Universe over the past eight billion years.
From their press release:
We have produced new and compelling evidence that the Universe is smoothly filled with a mysterious anti-gravity material known as “dark energy”. In particular, our data shows dark energy acting in two separate ways. Firstly, we have observed how dark energy opposes gravity by speeding up the overall rate of expansion of the Universe. Secondly, we have observed how dark energy opposes gravity by slowing down the growth of clusters and superclusters with time. We have accurately observed both of these effects over the last 7 billion years, which is the most distant measurement yet achieved. Our results have been produced by a careful analysis of the largest existing map of the distant Universe, measuring the positions of about 200,000 galaxies, which has taken us 4 years to assemble and was completed this year.
The goal of the survey was to measure the properties of “dark energy”, which is a concept first postulated by Albert Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, many times referred to by the scientist as his “greatest blunder”. About twelve years ago, astronomers realized the rate of expansion of the Universe was accelerating, and as such, “dark energy” was re-evaluated.
Blake mentions: “The acceleration was a shocking discovery, because it showed we have a lot more to learn about physics, Astronomers began to think that Einstein’s blunder wasn’t a blunder at all, and that the Universe really was filled with a new kind of energy that was causing it to expand at an increasing speed. WiggleZ says dark energy is real, Einstein remains untoppled.â€
Professor Warrick Couch, the Director of Swinburne’s Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, adds:
“Although the exact physics required to explain dark energy still remains a mystery, knowing that dark energy exists has advanced astronomers’ understanding of the origin, evolution and fate of the Universe.â€
If you would like to learn more about “dark energy”, the Australian Academy of Science has a great primer on the subject.
You can read it at: http://www.science.org.au/nova/115/115key.html
Source(s):
The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: testing the cosmological model with baryon acoustic oscillations at z=0.6
WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey Home Page
Swinburne University of Technology Press Release
Ray Sanders is a Sci-Fi geek, astronomer and blogger. Currently researching variable stars at Arizona State University, he writes for Universe Today, The Planetary Society blog, and his own blog, Dear Astronomer
2012-12-04 08:06:05
Source: http://www.dearastronomer.com/2011/05/24/new-study-shows-dark-energy-is-real/
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