Overview
- Prof. Young Wook Lee of Yonsei University and colleagues re-examined Type Ia supernova datasets and report signs that cosmic acceleration has decreased over time.
- The team interprets the result as evidence that dark energy varies in strength, which could eventually allow gravity to reverse expansion and lead to a Big Crunch.
- March observations from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument produced unexpected hints that galaxy acceleration may have changed, a pattern cited as consistent by outside astronomers.
- Leading cosmologists challenge the new interpretation, with Cambridge’s George Efstathiou calling the case weak and likely tied to supernova measurement systematics.
- The study, described in coverage as a peer‑reviewed Royal Astronomical Society journal paper, awaits independent verification as debate intensifies across new analyses.