- #1
chris1969
- 7
- 1
Hello everyone
I hope you don't mind me asking a real silly question about the original evidence for dark energy. I've been reading about how Type 1a supernovae provided the initial evidence that the expansion of the universe was accelerating. They are able to do this because they are standard candles i.e they all have the same intrinsic brightness - therefore the fainter they seem the further away they must be.
The part I don't get is what this information adds to the original observations made by Hubble. These showed that the velocity of objects (as measured by the redshift) increased with distance (as measured by some form of standard candle). If velocity is increasing with distance and time then this implies that the rate expansion of the Universe is increasing i.e accelerating. If this is the case, what is it that the Type 1a supernovae add to the story.
I'm conscious that I'm misunderstanding something at a very basic level, so an idiot's level
explanation would be appreciated!
And many thanks in advance.
Chris
I hope you don't mind me asking a real silly question about the original evidence for dark energy. I've been reading about how Type 1a supernovae provided the initial evidence that the expansion of the universe was accelerating. They are able to do this because they are standard candles i.e they all have the same intrinsic brightness - therefore the fainter they seem the further away they must be.
The part I don't get is what this information adds to the original observations made by Hubble. These showed that the velocity of objects (as measured by the redshift) increased with distance (as measured by some form of standard candle). If velocity is increasing with distance and time then this implies that the rate expansion of the Universe is increasing i.e accelerating. If this is the case, what is it that the Type 1a supernovae add to the story.
I'm conscious that I'm misunderstanding something at a very basic level, so an idiot's level
explanation would be appreciated!
And many thanks in advance.
Chris