{"id":602156,"date":"2026-04-13T22:48:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T22:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/602156\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T22:48:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T22:48:07","slug":"astronomers-just-nailed-down-the-universes-expansion-rate-and-now-they-have-more-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/602156\/","title":{"rendered":"Astronomers Just Nailed Down the Universe\u2019s Expansion Rate… and Now They Have More Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

One major, unsolved problem in astronomy involves the Hubble constant<\/a>, a number representing how quickly the universe expands. Specifically, the two main ways to measure the constant keep contradicting each other.<\/p>\n

To reconcile this Hubble \u201ctension,\u201d an international team of astronomers tried to combine these methods into a single framework in hopes that doing so would finally provide a definitive expansion rate. As it turns out, unifying these methods is feasible and results in what might be the most precise, direct measurement of the Hubble constant thus far. According to the new findings, that equates to an expansion rate of roughly 45.67 miles (73.50 \u00b1 0.81 kilometers) per second per megaparsec.<\/p>\n

But perhaps most importantly, the new, unified constant essentially solidifies the Hubble tension\u2014adding to a body of growing evidence that our current cosmological models have many holes, reported the researchers, who published their findings in a recent Astronomy & Astrophysics<\/a> study.<\/p>\n

\u201cConfirming the Hubble tension makes it even more important for us to reexamine the foundations of the current cosmological model and to identify any new phenomena that might modify the evolution of the universe,\u201d Adam Riess, one of the authors of the study and a researcher at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), told<\/a> Phys.org.<\/p>\n

A paradoxical universe <\/p>\n

Empirical observations and theoretical calculations both strongly support<\/a> the idea that our universe is expanding. Astronomers have generally depended on two methods to measure this expansion rate, or the Hubble constant. The first involves the cosmic microwave background<\/a>, or the near-uniform glow of radiation left over from the Big Bang. In the second approach, researchers consider the various physical characteristics of galaxies and supernovas in the local universe.<\/p>\n

The Hubble tension refers to a slight discord between what each approach says is the constant. The former maintains the Hubble constant is about 41 or 42 miles (67 or 68 kilometers) per second per megaparsec, while the latter says it\u2019s 45 miles (73 kilometers).<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the numerical difference is modest, it is far larger than can be explained by statistical uncertainty,\u201d according a statement from NOIRLab,<\/a> which provided technical support for the new study. Researchers have long argued over the exact source of this tension, with some even proposing<\/a> that the tension isn\u2019t real. However, recent observational advances have provided strong evidence that the discrepancy exists and is an outstanding paradox that astronomers need to address.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

A unified framework <\/p>\n

For the new study, the team developed a \u201cdistance network\u201d for bringing together different techniques for measuring distances in the local universe. The network primarily consolidates information from direct measurements of the local universe, which itself include various datasets of slightly different calculations. The goal was to determine whether any single method contributed to errors. The answer was no.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t just a new value of the Hubble constant,\u201d the team pointed out. \u201cIt\u2019s a community-built framework that brings decades of independent distance measurements together, transparently and accessibly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The results have several implications. First, they give astronomers a relatively \u201cstandard\u201d metric for the Hubble constant\u2014meaning at the very least, humans aren\u2019t using a faulty mechanism for deriving the expansion rate of the current universe. But it also confirms that the version of the same constant, calculated from the early universe, was slightly lower. In other words: the Hubble tension still exists.<\/p>\n

What now? <\/p>\n

In short, the unified constant further solidifies what astronomers suspected for a long time: the standard model of cosmology is far from complete. The team does have some ideas of what could be missing. For instance, the issue could come from our limited understanding of \u201cdark energy<\/a>, new particles<\/a>, or modifications to gravity,<\/a>\u201d NOIRLab explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the tension is real, as the growing body of evidence suggests, it may point to new physics beyond the standard cosmological model,\u201d the team added in a statement.<\/p>\n

Then again, remember that we\u2019re living through a particularly good time for cosmology<\/a>. The researchers behind the new research appear to believe that as well, as they describe their contributions as an open-source framework for future investigations. We\u2019ll just have to wait and see if next-generation telescopes will resolve the tension once and for all\u2014or force physics to reconsider reality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One major, unsolved problem in astronomy involves the Hubble constant, a number representing how quickly the universe expands.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":602157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[3508,49,48,12447,314,66,144968],"class_list":{"0":"post-602156","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-physics","8":"tag-astrophysics","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-cosmic-microwave-background","12":"tag-physics","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-the-hubble-tension"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}