Many years ago, in 1915, the well known scientist Albert Einstein predicted in his manuscript, ‘The General Theory of Relativity’, that the universe is expanding at a much faster pace than expected. His theory was proven this week.
Several astronomers from North America and Europe have studied over 446,000 galaxies to create a map of the universe. The astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to accomplish the task and have confirmed the accelerating expansion of the universe as well as Einstein’s theories about gravity. They proved that the universe is growing larger at an accelerated rate and is controlled by a force called dark energy.
In his widely studied theory, Einstein also predicted that the galaxy held a substance called dark matter. He used this term to explain the blank space that makes up 80 percent of the universe as well as causes the gravitational pull which in turn causes the galaxies to form. He also termed the universe’s accelerating expansion dark energy.
One of the astronomers on the team, University of B. C astronomer Ludovic Van Waerbeke, said, “If you think the universe is essentially made of matter and radiation, there is absolutely no way you can explain the acceleration. It is absolutely impossible. So the only reasonable way of explaining this acceleration is by having a new source of energy in the universe which has very funny behavior. We called it dark energy.”
This is the third study to confirm the existence of dark energy.
Einstein also predicted that gravity is caused by matter warping space and time. In simpler terms this means that light bends near massive objects. This was seen by using a technique where light from distant galaxies is seen bending as it travels through outer space; this technique is known as weak gravitational lensing.
Astronomers now believe that the universe is made up of three components: normal matter such as the grass, trees, animals, stars, other planets; dark matter which is invisible to the naked eye but is known to exist because of the gravitational pull; and dark energy which causes the universe to expand.
If we can’t come up with an answer, we make something up for the sake of having an answer? Dark matter, something we can’t see, that doesn’t get in between us and any other star, but potentially makes up 80% of the mass in the universe? And Dark Energy, a mystery force that somehow causes matter to move away from the center of the universe. Doesn’t matter how many studies we do, we still don’t have the answers, and we are just making things up. Can we add a Dark Monster that plays with the Dark Energy and Dark Matter. It makes as much sense.
So what is it Dennis? Nobody can be smarter than you? These kinds of articles are written in metaphors so people who don’t read math can have an inkling of what has been discovered and verified by research. Do you really think you should be able to comprehend everything that is going on in universe using your limited senses and metaphors crafted to appeal to them?
Science is hard, my friend. Don’t take away from the great work people are doing because you don’t get it.
I agree with Dennis. It just doesn’t seem right. Occams Razor, right? It just lacks the same elegance that many of the other qualities of physics have. What if the rules applying to gravity gradually change as we get to larger and larger scales? That might eliminate the need for dark matter. I’m just saying it doesn’t quite click yet until they can provide more evidence for dark stuff.
Dennis, just because someone is not educated in the mathematics and science involved with studying the universe and it’s mysteries doesn’t mean they aren’t real. People used to think the earth was flat also and spoke of the round worlders as heretics and made them out to be crazy.
Dude you’re funny…
Just be careful that the dark monster doesn’t play with you. He is so Mighty
Hi Dennis;
Mr. Einstein failed to realize that the radius of an expanding or contracting universe is radial and stands perpendicular to relative time which is embedded in space-time (see also Figure #2 of the “Unified Mind Theory, a Model of Creation in 5 dimensions”, http://www.silk.net/personal/hzeunert/me19.html. Big bang is not a point in time spitting out all matter there is, together with the evasive anti-matter, in next to no time at all, but is a focal point of incoming and outgoing energy. Recessional velocity is not uniform throughout the universe, but is a function of location. Looking at our own Galaxy, on one end we have dark matter (hydrogen atoms) being in a state of high expansion but below v (for velocity) = c (the speed of light in a 4-D environment), on the other end we have matter returning back to Radiation (at V = -c black hole) which surrounds the focal point in a 3-dimensional fashion (no matter, therefore no time). We have a continuous recycling of matter so to speak. We with our sun and his location within our galaxy may be at v = 0, meaning we are on top and enjoy maximum universal expansion, a long stretch in time where the universe is still, or “flat” with a minimum of disaster, but we share this state only with those planetary systems we discover if we take a crosscut through our Galaxy, with our sun lined up. These are our neighbours in space and in time.
Don’t you hate it when people pretend to know what their talking about but clearly have no idea.
Sounds like the bible by how you’re describing it.
Dennis, might i remind you of a little story of a “planet x”. im not going to explain it to you, but you should read up on it, then maybe you’ll understand why we must take the steps we are and in the order that we are, for a reason?
Enlighten yourself, PLEASE, at least for yourself…
Well Dennis, Einstein was shockingly right about mass bending light and time long before anyone had a clue what he was talking about. Maybe, just maybe, he was right about dark matter. Also, every experiment seems to point to it’s existence.
That’s faulty reasoning if I ever heard it. For one thing, what you just described is not hard to believe at all since we can see that light can be bent by all manner of phenomena. Dark matter, energy, and whatnot are way further out there.
bogus
Great. The universe is expanding.
What is it expanding into?
I don’t recall Einstein suggesting dark matter. Dark matter was introduced later as a means to match the observations with the theory.
One day as I looked through the air
I saw dark matter that wasn’t there.
It wasn’t there again today,
I wish that dark matter would go away.
Actually the universe is contracting. There was once a big bang. The universe expanded. But it did not keep on expanding, Gravity began to affect it. It reached a limit and then began to contract. Like a ball bouncing the universe goes boing boing. We have no idea how long it has been doing this, but it must be for always. There may have been a beginning, but beginnings are outside our experience. All we Know is change.
Incorrect please stop pretending you know anything about the subject there are three very distinct end results to our universe Great cool from infinitely expanding universe static which is unlikely or a big crunch from the universe contracting. No one knows for sure what the end result will be but at the current time the universe is without a doubt expanding this is why we see a relationship between z (redshift) and distance. I tried to simplify that as much as possible just for you charles.
You are all Fools for not believing in Me.
Love that question: “What is (the universe) expanding into?”
There are two question that religion sidesteps: (1) what is beyond “infinity” (and don’t just say infinity has no boundary); and (2) what was there before the Beginning (or before the “Big Bang”)? Strangely, pondering those two questions – and not religion – gives me a feeling that there could well be something or someone like “God”.
No, I didn’t mean that as to have any relation to religion.
I’ve just always wanted to ask that question. Every time I read or hear that astrophysicists claim the universe is expanding, and it sounds like it is, I wondered, “what exactly is it expanding into?” The great ether?
My thoughts exactly.
The universe is not expanding into anything this article was poorly written to explain facts that most people do not understand. “universal expansion” is not like throwing a bunch of baseballs into a field farther and farther apart from each other but rather that the very space itself is stretching almost as if you inflate a balloon, we do not notice this here on earth because the gravitational field (among other forces) that we are in within the solar system is large enough to counteract this effect. I hope that answers your #1 question as the second question is philosophical mostly as we yet do not have the tools to really evaluate that question currently.
I like to think of dark matter as a pond. Similar to the force that effects a pebble dropped into a pond.
A pebble travels towards the bottom on a path that’s being effected by a few factors.
Factors like gravity, the surface shape and mass of the pebble, surface tention/friction,and the force of movement of the water.
Dark matter is the absence of visible matter. Dark matter is the space between matter. Dark matter is energy due to the effect of matter much like an effect of a wave coming into contact with the pebble as it is on it’s way to the bottom of the pond.
Unlike a pond we cannot see the movement of particles. However, we do know they exist by their effect that they have on the pebble.
this is not true your assumption leads to a dark matter is everywhere thought which is just not true this can be seen in dark matter clumping and during galactic collisions where the dark matter halos interact with each other during the collision there are hundreds of other examples to explain what dark matter really is.
You are outside a gust of wind pushes you into lamp post knocks you down,did you see the wind that gave you the bloody nose when you hit the lamp post.
Albert Einstein,GENIUS,NO!, Albert was persistent,while others gave up in solving PROBLEMS,Albert pushed on,some problems took him 20yrs to solve,way to go Albert
Energy cannot die it only changes to another form of energy,everything produces energy,example when your pissed off at another country and you NUKE them with a few colliding atoms,that is an example of NEGATIVE ENERGY.or DARK ENERGY.
Darkness then light. Evening and morning the first day.
All of you may be right then again all of you may be wrong, bearing in mind that early Scientists thought the world was flat.
Wally….. a small correction
It was the Early Scientists (Galileo, Copernicus etc..) who first
argued the earth was round and not the center of the universe. It was the Church and others who maintained the earth was flat.
Actually, it was the science world the convinced the church that the world was flat. Most scientists were against Galileo, as he was an arrogant bugger that made most of them angry. But in the end the church chose the wrong group of scientists. You know, at one time science did not believe in these things called germs either. Each scientists is out there to prove their theory correct and the others incorrect.
Obviously from reading the various comments their are many very intelligent people here and some not so. I have a question that I have always wondered about. Space is endless. If that is so, our ever expanding universe can not take up all of space. So my question. Is it possible that their are more than one “Big Bang” It is possible to have another one somewhere, maybe even near by? Just wondering.
Dark matter/energy I would suggest is just energy/matter in a different form, like water becoming ice or steam, but not as simple as that… It took quite a lot of studying by early scientists just of the air we breathe to confirm exactly what it was we were breathing. What ever we find dark matter/energy to be, it will be far beyond the idea of the earth being flat or round.
So how exactly do we know it’s expanding?
Wouldn’t we have to know where the edge is and what is beyond the edge to prove that it is expanding?
I mean isn’t that what expanding is? I mean I’m no genius, but I think I understand the word expanding anyway.
Like a lot of other people here, what is it expanding into? Let me guess… more dark stuff…
Brilliant.
The edge is not expanding at all but rather space is being stretched I explained this in a post above if you care to scroll up. And we know the universe is expanding because we look at the redshifts of other galaxies and from those redshifts we observe that everything is moving away from us but more then that every point in the universe is moving away from every other part of the universe. Its rather like taking a radar gun and realizing that everyone is moving away from you so you move to another spot and then realize everyone is moving away from you again.
I mean ok, we know things are moving apart from each other now, but can’t things just be piling up on the edge? If there is an edge. I mean can we really say we proved the universe is expanding?
So, how will this affect my MTV? It doesn’t mean much unless it affects us some how.
Actually there is a really interesting web site at
http://www.thunderbolts.info
It discusses things line Dark Matter and Dark Energy and how these are required if we have a Gravity only view of the universe. They propose a new model based on plasma, which is the most common form of matter in the universe and the electic properties that can account for the differences between the current thories and observation. Take a look at the archives section, very interesting and thought provoking.