• That the universe is expanding has been known for almost a hundred years now, but how fast? • The exact rate of that expansion remains hotly debated, even challenging the standard model of cosmology. • A research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU) and the Max Planck Institutes, MPA and MPE, has now imaged and modeled an exceptionally rare supernova that could provide a new, independent way to measure how fast the universe is expanding. • The studies are published on the arXiv preprint server.

Article Summaries:

  • A team from the Technical University of Munich, Ludwig Maximilians University, and the Max Planck Institutes (MPA and MPE) has imaged and modeled an exceptionally rare supernova that may offer a new, independent way to measure the universe’s expansion rate. Published as a preprint on arXiv, the study shows how the supernova’s light curve and spectrum can be used to determine the Hubble constant, a key parameter that remains contested and challenges the standard cosmological model. The researchers argue that this method could help resolve the current tension between different measurements of the universe’s expansion speed.

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