The dark energy around the Universe by Claudia Sonea

The Universe is a great mystery and therefore there is nothing out of ordinary to try to find an explanation to how it appeared and why it is expanding. The Bible speaks about the process of Creation, while physicians speak about the Big Bang phenomenon (the Universe created as a result of an explosion). According to a study released on Wednesday by the British weekly science journal Nature astrophysicists believe to be on the verge of discovering why the expansion of the Universe, triggered by the Big Bang, is accelerating. Two very different theories converged and gave birth to the conclusion that the mutual attraction of galaxies through gravity would slow the expansion of space, created by the Big Bang some 14 billion years ago. One says that the Universe is filled with so-called dark energy, a substance that has never been seen. Still, this dark energy cannot be detected with the help of technology as it neither emits nor reflects light or radiation, but it counteracts the gravitational attraction that galaxies exert on each other and which would otherwise break the cosmic expansion. On the other hand, the second theory says that the dark energy does not exist and thus current theories about gravitational force as the prime force in the Universe would be wrong. None of the theories has been supported by observations or proves. Until now, observations have not strongly supported either scenario. An international team of 51 astronomers led by Luigi Guzzo of the Astronomico di Brera in Merate, Italy measured the distribution and movement of some 10,000 galaxies over a period of 30 years by using the European Space Agency's (ESO) Very Large Telescopes (VLS) and with the purpose to study the overall expansion of the Universe, which pushes galaxies away from each other, and the force of gravity, which pulls them together. They were able to create a 3-D map of an expanding Universe that also informs about movements within the galaxies themselves. Oliver Le Fevre, from the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille confesses that it would offer a way to test the nature of dark energy. The scientists scanned thousands of galaxies across a patch of sky roughly 20 full moons across and concluded in favor of a dark energy that accelerates the Universe's expansion. Guzzo stated that it would help them to take a decision regarding the dark energy and if there is need to change some of the physics law. Don't go away, more to come!

related story: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080131/tts-science-astronomy-physics-universe-c1b2fc3_1.html

by Claudia Sonea for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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