For a long time, people have learned that the universe is expanding. This is just one of a number of theories on what would be the future of our universe. While there might be a general acceptance to this, there is still debate on how fast is the universe expanding. Many believe that the expansion is happening at a fast rate, but some astronomers think that expansion might not be that fast at all.
A group of scientists from Oxford University has questioned the notion that the universe is expanding rapidly. The group is led by Professor Subir Sarkar of the Department of Physics. The team has used data that catalogs 740 Type Ia supernova, according to Phys Org. The data they have studied shows that there is a constant rate of expansion, but not necessarily a fast one.
Professor Sarkar said that the evidence for a fast expansion of the universe could only be considered as a 3 sigma, whereas a 5 sigma is the standard by which a discovery is of much significance. He further said that while there might be other data that supports for a fast expansion of the universe, these indirectly tested and done under a theoretical model.
Convincing other scientists would not be easy, though, and much work is still needed to have his theory hold more ground, as the International Business Times reports. Professor Sarkar does believe that much of what we know about the universe's expansion has been based on an incorrect model.
"It is quite possible that we are being misled and that the apparent manifestation of dark energy is a consequence of analyzing a data in an oversimplified theoretical model, one that was in fact constructed in the 1930s, long before there was any real data," Professor Sarkar remarked.
With his work, he said that he hopes it would inspire other researchers to analyze better cosmological data and nuanced cosmological models. He is also confident that the European Extremely Large Telescope could make observations to see whether the universe is really expanding at a fast rate.
Lately, the Milky Way has been mapped extensively, as reported earlier.
