By Aahil
October 13, 2022
A new atlas of tens of thousands of galaxies' distances is helping scientists determine the universe's age and expansion pace.
To quantify the universe's expansion rate, astronomers use the Hubble constant, which is 46.6 miles per second per megaparsec, or 3.26 million light-years.
With the new map, Cosmicflows-4, researchers have calculated a Hubble constant value of 47 miles per second per megaparsec.
Two of the researchers' eight approaches for calculating galactic distances were original.
For Cosmic Flows-4, researchers calculated the separation between 56,000 galaxies and their velocities as they moved farther apart.
The distances and velocities of these galaxies, which hold billions of stars, can help astronomers pinpoint the Big Bang's date.
Most of the data came from the now-defunct Arecibo Observatory's ALFALFA HI study.
Researchers kept error margins low by using exact galaxy measurements and distances.