April 21, 2021 at 12:00 pm
Astronomers have been arguing about the rate of the universe’s expansion for nearly a century. A new independent method to measure that rate could help cast the deciding vote.
For the first time, astronomers calculated the Hubble constant — the rate at which the universe is expanding — from observations of cosmic flashes called fast radio bursts, or FRBs. While the results are preliminary and the uncertainties are large, the technique could mature into a powerful tool for nailing down the elusive Hubble constant, researchers report April 12 at arXiv.org.
Ultimately, if the uncertainties in the new method can be reduced, it could help settle the long-standing debate that holds our understanding of the universe’s physics in the balance (