Today, I learned that the first-year results from DESI have been announced.
Berkeley Lab and Science have each posted great articles that provide the details.
Here’s my understanding. The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) has been used to create the largest 3D map of our expanding universe. The visuals in the above articles are awe-inspiring! This map is the most detailed one ever made. This is the first time we’ve measured the expansion of our universe during the distant past (8 to 11 billion years ago). We’ve confirmed that “dark energy” behaves mostly as expected based on “Lambda CDM”, our current leading theoretical model for how the universe is expanding.
I mention these results because I find them very inspiring. We live in extraordinary times!
It wasn’t that long ago when we weren’t sure if planets orbiting other stars existed. Now, we know that there is a large number of Earth-like planets orbiting other stars. This is amazing.
Having the ability to understand how the universe is expanding is also amazing.
While the data doesn’t explain the full story of “dark energy”, it does offer hints that can lead to greater understanding.
I am reminded of an article I read in Discover magazine as a kid.
The article provided three options for the expansion of our universe. (1) If the universe had sufficient mass, it would eventually stop expanding and begin contracting, perhaps leading to another Big Bang. (2) If the universe did not have enough mass, it would expand forever, leaving more and more space between the galaxies, known as a “Deep Freeze”. (3) If the universe had just the right amount of mass between the other two options, the universe would only barely avoid collapsing, which I consider the “Goldilocks Scenario”. This one was dubbed “omega = 1”, where omega represented the ratio of the universe’s density to the critical density.
I wonder if DESI is going to provide enough data for us to be sure of the ultimate fate of the universe…
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