Stay Curious

SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AND UNLOCK ONE MORE ARTICLE FOR FREE.

Sign Up

VIEW OUR Privacy Policy


Discover Magazine Logo

WANT MORE? KEEP READING FOR AS LOW AS $1.99!

Subscribe

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?

FIND MY SUBSCRIPTION
Advertisement

Evolving dark energy?

Discover Bradley Schaefer's claim: dark energy density increasing with time could redefine our understanding of the universe's expansion.

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news

Sign Up

Don't be surprised if you keep reading astronomy stories in the news this week -- the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society is underway in Washington DC, and it's common for groups to announce exciting results at this meeting. Today there was a provocative new claim from Bradley Schaefer at Louisiana State University -- the dark energy is evolving in time! (Read about it also from Phil Plait and George Musser.) Short version of my own take: interesting, but too preliminary to get really excited. Schaefer has used gamma-ray bursts (GRB's) as standard candles to measure the distance vs. redshift relation deep into the universe's history -- up to redshifts of greater than 6, as opposed to ordinary supernova studies, that are lucky to get much past redshift 1. To pull this off, you want "standard candles" -- objects that are really bright (so you can see them far ...

Stay Curious

JoinOur List

Sign up for our weekly science updates

View our Privacy Policy

SubscribeTo The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Subscribe
Advertisement

0 Free Articles