The expansion of the universe was measured using a catalog of 56,000 galaxies

Astrophysicists from the University of Hawaii at Manoa have compiled the largest ever collection of high-precision data on

distances to galaxies called Cosmicflows-4. Using eight different methods, they measured the distances of up to 56 thousand galaxies.

There are several ways to measuredistances to galaxies. As a rule, individual researchers focus on one of them. In the new work, scientists aggregated data from individual observations from previous works and their own analysis performed using two methods. 

Galaxies are building blocksUniverse, each of which consists of several hundred billion stars. Galaxies other than the nearest ones, bound by gravitational forces to the Milky Way, move away, the faster the further they are, which is a consequence of the expansion of the Universe that began at the time of the Big Bang. Measurements of the distances of galaxies, coupled with information about their velocities far from us, determine the scale of the universe and the time that has passed since its birth, the authors of the work explain.

Since galaxies have been identified asseparate from the Milky Way a hundred years ago, astronomers have tried to measure their distances at all times. Now, by combining our more accurate and numerous instruments, we can measure the distances to galaxies, as well as the corresponding rate of expansion of the universe and the time elapsed since the birth of the universe, to within a few percent.

Brent Tully, study co-author at the University of Hawaii at Manoa

Based on the measurements, the researchers estimatedthe value of the Hubble constant. Its value determines the rate of expansion of the Universe. Data on 56,000 galaxies suggests that the universe is expanding at a rate of 75 km/s per 1 Mpc (3.26 million light years). In this case, the measurement error is about 1.5%.

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On the cover: night sky map with labeled galaxies from the catalog. Image: University of Hawaii at Manoa