Alert! The Universe is Expanding Faster

RED ALERT! Grab your crash helmets and head for the bunkers! The universe is expanding faster than scientists thought. Good grief Charlie Brown! The sky is falling! No wait, it's the opposite.

So, what's the big deal? The answer is not to worry. Be happy. All of this expansion is happening on a cosmic scale and is meaningless in our backyard, otherwise known as the Solar System. All it shows is that the universe isn't what we thought it was.

So, what the astronomers found is that the so-called Hubble constant needs to be revised to 73.2 kilometers per second per megaparsec. This is how fast the universe is expanding based on the observation of hundreds of supernovae in different galaxies. What the astronomers did was use the Hubble telescope to measure the red shift of the light coming from these type-1a supernovae, which are used as a standard candle for long distant objects like galaxies. The more the light shifts into the red part of the spectrum, the faster the object is moving away. This is based on the Doppler effect. More distant objects like galaxies appear to be moving away faster than near objects. Near the edge of observable universe, objects are flying away at the speed of light.

A megaparsec is equivalent to 3.26 million light years. That a far piece! The new Hubble constant is 5 to 9 percent higher than previously thought. What that means is that the distance between celestial objects will double in 9.8 billion years. I'm shaking in my galactic boots!

That darn pesky Dark Energy is causing this catastrophe, and scientists have no idea what it is. So, here we are! Our beloved universe is headed toward the Big Rip and we have no idea where to press on the break. We don't even know if it has a break. We'll have to throw out an anchor instead.

Actually, these results are in question because they don't quite match up to data obtained with NASA's WMAP (Wilson Microwave Anisotropy Probe) and The European Space Agency's Plank Satellite Mission. These two probes came up with lower expansion rates. That's the way science works. Everything must be verified, so I'm coming out of my bunker and hanging up my helmet until I get better data. Turn off that darn Alert klaxon! We're safe until the next crisis pops its ugly head up.

Thanks for reading.