Jump to content
Science Forums

The Cosmic Conundrum


hazelm

Recommended Posts

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190214115549.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_science+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Science+News%29

 

Measuring the gravitational waves of neutron star collisions will reveal how fast our universe is expanding.  By getting a more accurate measurement of the Hubble Constant, they feel sure they can get a more accurate measurement of the expansion.   "definitely"

 

 

(my comment) If it doesn't collapse first, a la E. A. Poe.   ----- I had to add that. :-)   -----

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't see the problems you mentioned. Yes, the GW and light travel at c. But they each provide different information.

The GW amplitude "loudness" gives information on the distance to the binary collision, while the light (actually the redshift) provides

information on the velocity. Those two things tell us about the expansion rate at that point in space.

 

The problem is, this method is not very reliable as the GW that is received may be from different places in the disturbance, throwing off the distance measurement. So they need to do a lot of readings and average them.

 

Right now, we have two different measurements from the CMB and from the Cepheids and they do not agree. So this will either provide a third reading, and more confusion,  or it may confirm one of the other two and settle the question.

 

I would just average the two readings we have and save a lot of time and money.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...