Space

7286 readers

55 users here now

News and findings about our cosmos.

Subcommunity of Science

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

wintrparkgrl@beehaw.org

Gaywallet@beehaw.org

alyaza@beehaw.org

remington@beehaw.org

244

James Webb telescope confirms there is something seriously wrong with our understanding of the universe (www.livescience.com)

submitted 6 months ago by rimu@piefed.social to c/space@beehaw.org

74 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Astronomers have used the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes to confirm one of the most troubling conundrums in all of physics — that the universe appears to be expanding at bafflingly different speeds depending on where we look.

This problem, known as the Hubble Tension, has the potential to alter or even upend cosmology altogether. In 2019, measurements by the Hubble Space Telescope confirmed the puzzle was real; in 2023, even more precise measurements from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) cemented the discrepancy.

Now, a triple-check by both telescopes working together appears to have put the possibility of any measurement error to bed for good. The study, published February 6 in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, suggests that there may be something seriously wrong with our understanding of the universe.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] NattyNatty2x4@beehaw.org 2 points 6 months ago

Ahhh my bad, googling him I don't think I've heard of him or his works before (aside from announcements of three body problem getting a show), but it's possible I picked up the idea through osmosis somewhere. Yea it's so far off that it doesn't really matter, but it definitely helps with that ultimate feeling of nihilism that thinking about the heat death can bring along.