Astronomers have revealed that dark energy, a mysterious phenomenon that pushes our universe to expand faster, is not a constant force of nature, but one that grows and decreases over time.
Outstanding energy Photo: Live Science
Dark energy and dark matter are two of the most mysterious components of the universe. Together, they make up about 95% of the cosmos, but because they do not interact with light, they cannot be detected directly.
Discoveries could open the possibility that the universe may end through a Big Bang Bang or “Big Crunch ”Cosmologists say.
If confirmed, the results obtained by the team of the spectroscopic instrument for dark energy (though) from the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona would have profound implications on the theories on the evolution of the universe, opening the possibility that its current expansion eventually reverses in a “Big Crunch, according to The Guardian.
A suggestion that dark energy has reached a maximum level with billions of years ago would also announce the first substantial change in the last decades of the wide -accepted theoretical model.
Prof. Alexie Leauthaud-Harnett, cosmologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said: “What we see is deeply intriguing. It is interesting to think that we could be on the verge of a major discovery about the dark energy and the fundamental nature of our universe. ”
What is dark energy
Dark energy was discovered in the late 1990s, when astronomers used distant supernove explosions to investigate how the rate of cosmic expansion has changed over time.
The gravity was expected to counteract the expansion that took place from the Big Bang, but instead, the supernoves indicated an acceleration of the expansion rate, propelled by an unknown force that scientists called dark energy.
The latest discoveries, announced on Thursday, March 19, 2025, at the Global Physics Summit of the American Physics Society of Anaheim, California, challenges this predominant point of view.
“C.What we discover is that, yes, there is something that pushes the galaxies away from each other, but it is not constant. It is in decline ”, said Professor Carlos Frenk, cosmologist at the University of Durham and a member of the collaboration.
Professor George Efststhiou of the University of Cambridge, who was not involved in discoveries, said: “My conclusion in this analysis is that measurements do not yet provide decisive evidence for the evolution of dark energy. They could do this as they accumulate more data. “
If the dark energy continues to decrease to the point where it becomes negative, it is expected that “Universe will end up in a reverse Big Bang scenario known as Big Crunch”.
