News in Brief Cosmology

New data fuel debate on universe’s expansion rate

Quasar observations support higher value for Hubble constant

five quasars

TWINKLING LIGHTS  Five quasars, shown, helped scientists make a new measurement of the universe’s expansion rate.

ESA/Hubble, NASA, Suyu et al.

By Emily Conover

- More than 2 years ago

A new estimate of how fast the universe is expanding supports one side of an ongoing debate, favoring a more rapid expansion.

Observations of type 1a supernovas imply a faster expansion rate (known as the Hubble constant) than studies of the cosmic microwave background — light that originated early in cosmic history (SN: 8/6/2016, p.