Universe Not Expanding At The Rate Previously Believed, Study

Universe is not expanding as fast as first thought it would be, according to a new study. Researchers analyzed specific types of supernovae or exploding stars as observed by NASA's Swift satellite and concluded that these were more diverse than previously thought.

The study found that type of supernovae, which has been commonly used to supposedly measure reliable distances in the universe, fell into different populations that had not been spotted before now.

"We found that the differences are not random, but lead to separating Ia supernovae into two groups, where the group that is in the minority near us are in the majority at large distances -- and thus when the universe was younger," UA astronomer Peter A. Milne, an associate astronomer with the UA's Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory, said in the press release.

"There are different populations out there, and they have not been recognized. The big assumption has been that as you go from near to far, type Ia supernovae are the same. That doesn't appear to be the case."

Notably, even with this new information the exact amount of dark matter in our universe is still unknown. According to the new theory, if expansion is less, then the levels of dark matter present out there are also decrease from previous measurements.

The study is published in the Astrophysical Journal.