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Yes, the universe's expansion is still accelerating, researchers say

Yahoo • June 16, 2026 • science

Key Points:

A new study published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society reaffirms that the universe's expansion is accelerating, supporting the existence of dark energy, contrary to a 2025 study that claimed the acceleration had stopped.
The research team, including Nobel laureates, analyzed Type Ia supernovae—stellar explosions with consistent brightness—to measure cosmic distances and the rate of expansion over time.
The 2025 study suggested that accounting for the ages of stars causing supernovae could alter expansion measurements, but the new study found no evidence supporting this "age effect."
The nature of dark energy remains unknown, but upcoming data from the Vera Rubin Observatory and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope may help clarify its properties.
The debate highlights ongoing challenges in cosmology, with researchers defending their methodologies and emphasizing the need for further observations to understand the universe's expansion dynamics.

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