Universe is fading away, say astronomers

From: BillK (bill@wkidston.freeserve.co.uk)
Date: Mon Aug 18 2003 - 14:21:41 MDT

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    http://www.guardian.co.uk/spacedocumentary/story/0,2763,1020759,00.html
    http://www.ras.org.uk/html/press/pn0332ras.html

    Full paper is available from Professor Alan Heaven's web site:
    http://www.roe.ac.uk/~afh/MC1190rv.pdf

    Quotes:
    The universe is gently fading into darkness according to three
    astronomers who have looked at 40,000 galaxies in the neighborhood of
    the Milky Way.

    "Our analysis confirms that the age of star formation is drawing to a
    close", says Alan Heavens. "The number of new stars being formed in the
    huge sample of galaxies we studied has been in decline for around 6
    billion years - roughly since the time our own Sun came into being."

    "Stars are formed in galaxies and there was a peak in the rate at which
    galaxies formed, and that time has passed and been and gone," Prof
    Heavens said.

    Professor Tony Hewish, who won the Nobel prize in 1974 for his work in
    discovering quasars at Cambridge University, said the dimming effect
    would be made worse by those bright stars that did remain being spread
    further apart as the universe expanded.

    "We live in an accelerating universe now and so, as time goes on, the
    density of galaxies is going to thin out," he said. "As far as we know
    the universe as it is now is going to expand for ever, so ultimately it
    must do something like that."
    End quotes.

    So apparently there are no signs of new energy being created by alien
    civilizations in the 40,000 galaxies surveyed. It all seems to be
    gradually dying out. And they are dying out in line with the natural
    lifespan of stars - not because they are being put in a box and used as
    batteries. :)

    BillK

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