New findings on dark energy back discarded Einstein theory

[Jazzy]

Ten years ago, astronomers made the stunning discovery that the universe is expanding at a faster rate than it should, given the amount of matter the cosmos contains. Scientists named the driving force behind the unexpected acceleration dark energy.

Now a team of astronomers is reporting observations showing that this mysterious force not only works on cosmic scales spanning billions of light years. It's also affecting members of the Milky Way's local group of galaxies.

That strongly suggests that dark energy's effects are constant over time and space, arguing in favor of Albert Einstein's original notion of a cosmological constant that prevented the universe from ultimately collapsing under its own gravity, the team says. Einstein ultimately discarded the idea as his biggest blunder.

In principle, mutual gravity binds the 30-odd galaxies in the Milky Way’s local group together. But the team found that dark energy is driving the group's most distant galaxies away from the group, in the same way it does on vastly larger scales.

Story Link: New findings on dark energy back discarded Einstein theory - Yahoo! News