Analysis of 2,884 supernovae strengthens suggestion that dark energy changes — ScienceDaily
An international group of scientists led by researchers from the School of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Queensland combined observations of 2,884 Type Ia supernovae. The new sample, the largest assembled for such objects, provided additional evidence that dark energy may change over time rather than remain constant, as predicted by the standard cosmological model, ScienceDaily reports.
Type Ia supernovae are explosions of white dwarfs that astronomers use to measure vast cosmic distances and trace the history of the Universe's expansion. The researchers brought together data collected over three decades, including historical measurements and results from the Dark Energy Survey published in 2024.
Data from different telescopes were checked
To compare observations from different years, the team reanalyzed older data using more modern methods. The accuracy of distance estimates can be affected by differences between telescopes, cosmic dust, the mass of the galaxies hosting the supernovae, and gravitational lensing — the distortion and magnification of light by massive objects along its path to Earth.
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According to doctoral student Ryan Camilleri, combining the updated supernova data with other cosmological measurements, including relic radiation and data on the distribution of galaxies, did not confirm the assumption that dark energy is unchanging.
Results align with other hints
Astrophysicist Tamara Davis noted that Dark Energy Survey data had already indicated in 2024 that dark energy might vary over time. The new compilation also identifies deviations from the standard model, although in a somewhat different direction.
Similar hints of variations in dark energy were previously found by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, which studies relic sound waves from the early Universe. The authors plan to expand the sample with new observations, including data from the Dark Energy Bedrock All-Sky Supernova program, which detects hundreds of supernovae closer to Earth.
