How fast is the universe expanding
Credit: Martin Pugh.
Despite a century of measurements, astronomers can’t agree on the rate at which the universe is expanding.
A technique that relies on measuring distances to a specific type of aging star in other galaxies called the J-region Asymptotic Giant Branch, or JAGB method might be able to help.
Astrophysicist and University of Chicago graduate student Abigail Lee is the lead author on a new paper that analyzed observations of light from a nearby galaxy to validate the JAGB method for measuring cosmological distances.
This novel technique will allow future independent distance measurements that can help answer one of the biggest outstanding questions in cosmology: how fast is the universe expanding?