ASTRONOMY TALK: Dark Energy & Runaway Universe

Keck Observatory is hosting an Astronomy Talk entitled, “Dark Energy and the Runaway Universe” on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, at the Kahilu Theatre beginning at 7 p.m.

Professor of Astronomy at University of California, Berkley, Alex Filippenkko will host the talk.

Astronomers expected the attractive force of gravity to slow down the rate at which the universe is expanding. However, observations made at Keck Observatory of very distant exploding stars show that the expansion rate is actually speeding up.

Dark Energy and the Runaway Universe will be the next subject of the Astronomy Talk series.

Over the largest distances, the universe seems to be dominated by a mysterious, repulsive “dark energy” that stretches space itself faster and faster with time. But the physical origin and nature of dark energy, which makes up about 70% of the contents of the universe, may be the most important unsolved problem in all of physics.

The most recent data yield an additional surprise: the current rate of expansion is even faster than expected, perhaps showing that dark energy is growing stronger or revealing a new type of fundamental particle.

For more information, contact Shelly Pelfrey at outreach@keck.hawaii.edu.

Kahilu Theatre is located at 67-1186 Lindsey Road in Kamuela.