this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2024
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James Webb telescope confirms there is something seriously wrong with our understanding of the universe (www.livescience.com)
submitted 7 months ago by rimu@piefed.social to c/space@beehaw.org
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Astronomers have used the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes to confirm one of the most troubling conundrums in all of physics — that the universe appears to be expanding at bafflingly different speeds depending on where we look.

This problem, known as the Hubble Tension, has the potential to alter or even upend cosmology altogether. In 2019, measurements by the Hubble Space Telescope confirmed the puzzle was real; in 2023, even more precise measurements from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) cemented the discrepancy.

Now, a triple-check by both telescopes working together appears to have put the possibility of any measurement error to bed for good. The study, published February 6 in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, suggests that there may be something seriously wrong with our understanding of the universe.

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[–] notfromhere@lemmy.ml 5 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Is it because our universe is actually some type of organism and it has growth in different areas more than others?

[–] ryven@lemmy.dbzer0.com 31 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

The summary is misleading. We have two ways of calculating expansion that, according to our current understanding, should arrive at the same answer, but they're off by about 10%. It's more a question of how we look than where.

Edit: corrected "title" to "summary"