The results of the research scientists who participated in the project Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA), presented on Wednesday at the annual general assembly of the International Astronomical Union in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Where are the new stars?
As said team leader Professor. Simon Driver of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy in Western Australia, these findings confirm earlier, according to which the cause gradual darkening of the universe is the fact that the number of newly formed star steadily declining.
– We used so much space and ground telescopes, how many were in the able to measure the energy emissions of more than 200 thousand. galaxies as far as possible waves – said prof. Driver.
It turned out that the rate of formation of new stars that are formed in giant clouds of dust and gas at such a rate that decreases the total amount of energy emitted by the universe.
Scientists who take part in the project GAMA intend to make the resulting data available to other astronomers to be verified.
– A lot more of our colleagues, in addition to our team will be able to use the data for further studies, which are extremely important – said Dr. Stephen King from the University of Sussex.
He added that the new findings stem from the fact that the researchers used the GAMA project to study a lot more wavebands than the previous, which focused on just a few. The range covered by ultraviolet light waves to infrared, including a narrow range of visible wavelengths for the human eye. This means that scientists could analyze light both newly formed stars and the very old, including light waves that had previously been absorbed by interstellar dust.
– We know that the formation of new stars has reached its peak a few billion years ago and it has since steadily declining. We discovered just a new method of measuring the rate of this decline – said Dr. Wilkins.
Less and less energy
The researchers were able to determine that in the period from approx. 2.25 billion to 0.75 billion years years ago emission energy the universe has decreased by approx. 40 percent. As explained by Dr. Wilkins, this is because the new stars formed less and less as old as our sun, grow older, they become smaller and emit less energy.
– The universe in fact sat on the sofa, covered himself with a blanket and intends to sink into an eternal slumber – said Professor vividly. Driver.
Uncertainty
For consolation, scientists assured that the possible end of the universe is still a very distant and is far too early to predict when they will occur.
– The rate of formation new stars will continue to fall. So we expect that the universe will become darker. However, it should be added that there is a huge degree of uncertainty still do not understand because so many processes in it – said Dr. Wilkins.
Covers scientists from the project GAMA also shed new light on the familiar for a long time the phenomenon. the escape of galaxies, which is a constant expansion of the universe. It turns out that not only do they emit less light due to the increasing distance, but also because their constituent stars slowly dim. The question of whether the universe is constantly expanding, and at some point will start to shrink to return to the starting point, which will result in another Big Bang, remains open.
See a video of the 14 billion years of cosmic life:
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