The fate of the cosmos may be a bit different than previously expected. For years, scientists have talked about how the universe is always expanding — constantly moving outward, never stopping. However, new research suggests that might not be the case at all, and that the universe may end with another big bang as it implodes.
Much of what we know (or think we know) about the universe is based around the idea that dark energy is holding everything together. Dark energy is a bit of a mystery when you really break it down, though, and despite everything we’ve learned while studying the cosmos with telescopes like the James Webb, we still haven’t figured out dark energy.
That said, dark energy might be at the center of the eventual end of the universe as we know it. Astronomers believe that there are two possible outcomes if dark energy really is the glue holding everything together. First, if the universe is truly expanding nonstop, and dark energy is a constant force, then eventually it will have spread too thin.
This would lead to a “big freeze” where the dark energy is spread so far out that the temperature everywhere becomes the same, essentially freezing the universe into a motionless, low-energy state. The alternative to this, though, is a lot more explosive.
Astronomers also believe that if dark energy is not constant, and varies over time, then eventually the universe will snap back into a singularity, resulting in an implosion. This is, obviously, a pretty dramatic way for things to end, and elicits some existential dread.
However, it’s unclear if either of these end cases will prove true. The universe is a very intriguing and still mysterious thing. And pinning down exactly what dark energy is, and how it behaves, is going to be paramount to understanding how the universe might end.
In the meantime, scientists continue to uncover more information about how our universe works, including figuring out key information like when the Sun will explode. It’s also entirely possible the universe is dying faster than we thought, which raises even more questions about the state of matter and the future of our universe.
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