Throwing Light on Dark Energy

Supernova observations show that the expansion of the universe has been speeding up. This unexpected acceleration is ascribed to a dark energy that pervades space. Supernova data, combined with other observations, indicate that the universe is about 14 billion years old and is composed of about 30 % matter and 70 % dark energy. New observational programs can trace the history of cosmic expansion more precisely and over a larger span of time than has been done to date to learn whether the dark energy is a modern version of Einstein’s cosmological constant or another form of dark energy that changes with time. Either conclusion is an enigma that points to gaps in our fundamental understanding of gravity. Observations of exploding stars halfway back to the Big Bang reveal a surprising phenome-non: The expansion of the universe has been speeding up in the past 7 billion years. We attribute this effect to the presence of a dark energy, whose energy density helps make th