Largest-Ever Survey of Cosmic History Confirms That Dark Energy Exists, Is Tearing the Universe Apart

Friday, May 20, 2011 - 11:30 in Astronomy & Space

After a five-year study of 200,000 galaxies, scientists are more certain than ever that dark energy acts as a repulsive force, tearing the universe apart at an accelerating rate. The research confirms the idea that dark energy dominates gravity throughout the cosmos. But no one has any idea what dark energy actually is or how it works. The WiggleZ project used NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer space telescope and a massive Australian observatory to peer back 7 billion years in time, equivalent to the cosmic time span that has been dominated by dark energy. It's the first time a single study has looked at such a lengthy period of cosmic history. Related ArticlesWhat's On Tap For the Next Ten Years of Astronomy? Find Exo-Earths and Figure Out Dark EnergyMathematicians' Alternate Model of the Universe Explains Away the Need For Dark EnergyHubble Maps Matter of Universe, Finds Further Evidence of Mysterious Dark EnergyTagsScience, Rebecca...

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