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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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[–] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 7 months ago (3 children)

As a science bitch I’ve never believed in the Big Bang… I think everything has always been and will always be and it goes on forever in every direction and when I think about that my feet feel weird

[–] KidnappedByKitties@lemm.ee 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Do you have evidence to support your position? Or is this just wishful thinking?

[–] exocrinous@startrek.website 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Well technically it would be skepticism

[–] KidnappedByKitties@lemm.ee 11 points 7 months ago

Actually it's the opposite, skepticism isn't the questioning, it's the proportioning of conviction to the amount of available evidence.

Disbelieving the claim of the Big Bang might be warranted, depending on the level of personal ignorance, but there's much much more evidence for a big bang than an "eternal, ever expanding void" supported by tingling feet.

Feel free to refer to the Wikipedia article on Scepticism, and better sources.

[–] gentooer@programming.dev 4 points 7 months ago

If I remember correctly, that's basically the Einstein - de Sitter universe, one of the early cosmological models. Einstein also didn't like the accelerated growth of the universe, he called the cosmological constant (what's now known as dark energy) a big mistake.

[–] WldFyre@lemm.ee 3 points 7 months ago

So when you run that model backwards a few billion years in your head then what do you think that looked like? I don't follow what you mean.