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    Why can’t we nail down how fast the universe is expanding?

    This podcast episode digs into why the Hubble constant is so hard to nail down and how a new method might finally get it right.
    by Lawrence Goodman-Brandeis Jul 10, 2019 0 minutes
    This composite image shows a superbubble in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way (hubble constant concept)

    The fate of the universe rests on the Hubble constant, but figuring out its value has proven a serious challenge.

    “The Hubble constant is a measure of the rate of growth of the universe,” explains Marcelle Soares-Santos, assistant professor of physics at Brandeis University.

    “The value of the Hubble constant will set what is the rate of expansion today, what is the fate of the universe in the future,” she says.

    In this episode of The Take: Big Ideas Explained in Under 5 Minutes,  Soares-Santos explains why the constant is so difficult to calculate and how her new approach might finally get it right.

    Listen to the episode here:

    A transcript of the episode is available here.

    Source: Brandeis University

    The post Why can’t we nail down how fast the universe is expanding? appeared first on Futurity.

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