Is Earth sitting inside a giant hole in space? Astronomers make big discovery
The concept of the Hubble constant, introduced by Edwin Hubble in 1929, measures the universe's expansion rate through the observation of celestial objects and their velocities as they move away from us. However, current models predict a slower expansion compared to actual observations, particularly in the local universe."A potential solution to this inconsistency is that our galaxy is close to the centre of a large, local void," explained Dr. Indranil Banik from the University of Portsmouth.In this scenario, gravitational forces pull matter towards denser regions outside the void. As the void empties, the velocity of objects moving away from us appears faster, giving the impression of an accelerated local expansion rate.The idea of a local void is supported by direct galaxy counts, indicating a lower galaxy density in our vicinity compared to surrounding regions. However, this notion remains controversial as it contradicts the standard cosmological model, which expects a more uniform distribution of matter on such large scales.Dr. Banik's presentation at NAM 2025 highlighted data from baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs), described as the 'sound of the Big Bang.'"These sound waves travelled for only a short while before becoming frozen in place once the universe cooled enough for neutral atoms to form," he noted. "They act as a standard ruler, whose angular size we can use to chart the cosmic expansion history."The presence of a local void is suggested to distort the relationship between the BAO angular scale and redshift, due to increased velocities and gravitational effects.Over the last two decades of BAO measurement analysis, this void model appears significantly more plausible than a void-free model aligned with the parameters of the Planck satellite observations.Future research will involve comparing this local void model with other methods for estimating the universe's expansion history, such as cosmic chronometers. These methods involve analysing galaxies no longer forming stars to determine their age and expansion metrics.By observing their spectra, astronomers can assess what types of stars they contain. The combination of these findings with galaxy redshift data provides further insights into the cosmic expansion narrative.- Ends
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