The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument is making the largest map of the cosmos to study the force that could be driving the expansion of the universe.
Its latest measurements at Kitt Peak Observatory support predictions made by Albert Einstein a hundred years ago.
Dark Energy is believed to be the driving force behind the expansion of the universe.
Scientists have believed this energy is constant and unchanging. But new results support previous findings that Dark Energy may evolve or even weaken over time.
Stephanie Juneau, an astronomer and collaborating member of DESI, said the new measurements detail how gravity has shaped structures in the universe, like galaxy clusters, bolstering Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
“That had been tested very precisely in the past at the scale of the solar system. The novelty is to test it on very large cosmic scales. So the scales of billions of light years across," She said.
Juneau said the instrument is less than halfway through its data collection, and looks forward to how it will give researchers a better understanding of the universe.
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