Astrophysicists see dark energy slowing universe

William Atkins
Wednesday, 17 December 2008 20:51

Science - Space

NASA concludes by stating, “These results have consequences for predicting the ultimate fate of the universe.”

And adds, “If dark energy is explained by the cosmological constant, the expansion of the universe will continue to accelerate, and the Milky Way and its neighbor galaxy, Andromeda, never will merge with the Virgo cluster."

"In that case, about a hundred billion years from now, all other galaxies ultimately would disappear from the Milky Way's view and, eventually, the local superclusters of galaxies also would disintegrate.

Look for two journal articles concerning the dark energy discovery of the Vikhlinin’s team in the February 10, 2009 issue of The Astrophysical Journal.

Want to know more about dark energy?

Please go to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center "Imagine the Universe" website "Dark Energy."

And, PhysicsWorld.com has a lengthy and informative article on its website "Dark Energy."