The dark energy which has been a mystery for over 5 billion years, is accelerating the expansion of the universe much faster, a study shows.
Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) with the help of the data from quasars - one of the most luminous, powerful, and energetic objects known in the universe -built a detailed 3 dimensional map of the universe 11.5 billion years ago when the dark matter started to rule.
"If we think of the universe as a roller coaster, then today we are rushing downhill, gaining speed as we go," Dr. Mat Pieri of Portsmouth University, co-author of the study, said. "Our new measurement tells us about the time when the universe was climbing the hill, still being slowed by gravity. It looks like the roller coaster crested the hill just about seven billion years ago, and we're still going."
Edwin Hubble and Georges Lemaitre made some early measurements of the speed at which our universe was expanding about 80 years ago. And Now BOSS has done the same for our universe taking it back 11 billion years ago.
Black holes are thought to be powering the quasars which are based at the heart of the galaxies. From the quasars, gas clouds can be measured as they absorb light from them which would help in viewing the distant universe through a phenomenon known as "Lyman-alpha forest."
Initially it was not clear where the baryonic acoustic oscillation (BAO) would be placed but a year study and after the data was analyzed, the measurements placed correctly in line with the theoretical predictions of where the BOA peak should be located.
"No place in the universe is really empty. There is gas in even the most remote parts of the universe and we have used it to measure how the universe expands," Dr. Pieri said. "This expansion is telling us that there is more than just gas out there - it seems that space itself comes with its own energy and the more space you have, the more of this 'dark energy' there is."
