The universe is 13.77 billion years old, according to a new measurement made with the help of a powerful Chilean telescope.
Why does it matter: The precise age of the universe is an important factor for scientists trying to understand the evolution and expansion of the cosmos.
What they found: The Atacama cosmology telescope measured the fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the brightness left behind after the Big Bang formed the universe.
- The researchers used the telescope to effectively create a triangle in the sky, measuring the distances between the Earth and two points of interest in the CMB and then extrapolating the distance between the two points.
- As the universe expands, measuring distances gives scientists a sense of how fast this change is taking place, and therefore the age of the universe.
- The new research is detailed in a study published in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics.
The whole picture: Scientists have been shot in a debate over how fast the universe is expanding – a number known as Constant Hubble.
- The dating of the universe to 13.77 billion years is consistent with the age of the universe previously estimated using data from the Planck satellite, but other methods that measure the distances between stars have dated the universe much younger.
- “Now I have come up with an answer in which Planck and ACT [Atacama Cosmology Telescope] I agree, “Simone Aiola, an author of the study, said in a statement.” There is talk that these difficult measurements are reliable. “
What’s next: Scientists continue to gather data and verify their analyzes in an attempt to resolve the Hubble Constant conflict.
- “The growing tension between these remote and local measurements of the Hubble constant suggests that we may be on the verge of a new discovery in cosmology that could change our understanding of how the universe works,” said Michael Niemack, author of the study in the statement.