Astronomers are using supermassive black holes to measure the expansion of the early Universe. Credit: ESA (artist’s impression and composition); NASA/ESA/Hubble (background galaxies); CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Scientists are using supermassive black holes to measure the expansion of the early Universe. The researchers, including our astronomers here at Durham University, think that their measurements show the Universe might be growing more rapidly than previously thought. Supermassive black holes give off radiation as they feed and are some of the brightest points of light in space. Black holes They act as beacons providing scientists with a way to measure distance - as the Universe expands, the black holes move further away. Researchers used this novel method to study the expansion rate of the Universe up to about one billion years after its birth. Their findings suggest that the Universe could be expanding faster than expected. One explanation might be that the density of dark energy - the mysterious force driving the expansion - changes through time.
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