Dark Energy
In 1998, a few astronomers were studying supernovae for evidence that the universe was slowing down when they discovered a startling fact - according to their observations, the universe's expansion was actually speeding up! This was a completely unexpected result, and scientists scrambled to find an explanation for the mysterious force that appeared to be driving the universe faster and faster apart. Unsure of how to describe it, they called this bizarre force "dark energy" and began the search for one of the most abundant yet mysterious quantities in the universe.
Posted by ppelton on March 27, 2005 at 11:16 PM
A Cluster of Galaxies
The above image of a cluster of galaxies is from www.astro.cz/ apod/ap011007.html, a site that's so cool its in Czech.
Here is an interesting article on dark energy from physicsweb.org
Posted by ppelton on March 27, 2005 at 7:21 PM