A Distant Destiny
Credit & Copyright: P. Garnavich
(CfA),
High-z Supernova Search Team,
NASA
Explanation:
Watching galaxies recede,
observational astronomers
of the 20th century discovered an astounding fact -
the Universe is expanding.
Will it continue to expand forever?
The speed of light is finite so
looking into the distant Universe is equivalent to looking at
the distant past.
These three
Hubble
Space Telescope images show
some
of the most distant detectable supernovae -
stellar explosions,
five to seven billion light-years away,
which occurred before the Sun was formed.
As recently reported,
the apparent brightness and expansion velocities associated with these
and other
distant supernovae are beginning to suggest that
the expansion rate of the Universe has not slowed but increased over time
and that the expansion of
the Universe is destined to continue.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
