The Mystery of Dark Energy… Why is the Universe tearing itself apart?
Scientists have been studying the composition of the universe for a long time and found that only 5% consists of ordinary things like atoms, while around 25% is dark matter, a mysterious substance that we cannot see but can be detected through gravity. The remaining 70% is dark energy.
Dark energy is a mysterious form of energy believed to be responsible for the universe’s accelerated expansion. Unlike natural matter, it does not interact with light and remains invisible, making direct observation challenging.
Its existence was proposed to explain the unexpected observation that the universe’s expansion is not slowing down, as one might expect due to gravity, but rather accelerating. The nature of dark energy remains incompletely understood, and it continues to be a subject of intense research and exploration in the field of astrophysics.
In a new study published in the “Astronomical Journal,” an international team of scientists measured this energy more accurately than before. While it was previously believed to be a constant energy in empty space, the new results suggest that it may be more complex.
Brad E. Tucker, an astrophysicist at the Australian National University and a co-author of the study, states in an article published on “The Conversation” about the study that scientists used exploding stars called Type Ia supernovae as cosmic measuring tools. Through a survey of dark energy involving 400 researchers and including more than 1,500 of these stars, the results suggest that dark energy may not be constant as previously believed, indicating a more complex explanation for its behavior in the universe.
