For the longest time, we’ve been certain that our universe is roughly 13.7 billion-years-old. That’s the basis on which we’ve dated every space discovery up to this point. But recent studies by Rajendra Gupta, adjunct professor of physics at the University of Ottowa, are beginning to show that we’ve quite possibly been wrong. The reality is that our universe is about twice that. A whopping 26.7 billion-years-old!
We’ve been dating our universe on the basis of two principles. The Big Bang Theory, and the time that’s passed since. Stars have been dated based on redshift phenomenon, which is the light of an object stretching into the red spectrum as it moves away. But there’s always been an issue with redshift phenomenon. Mainly that there are stars that would appear to be older than our universe. Even moreso now that the James Webb Telescope has discovered galaxies too advanced to be as young as assumed.
This could explain that redshift theory has been looked at wrong. Fritz Zwicky‘s tired light theory suggests that the red light isn’t from an object moving away, but that the light is getting weaker as it travels across the universe. Gupta also proposes a new theory for the universe’s age. A theory he calls “coupling constants.” Which is combining multiple theories about the universal constants and adding that these constants can evolve as the universe ages. “Our newly-devised model stretches the galaxy formation time by several billion years, making the universe 26.7 billion years old, and not 13.7 as previously estimated.”
Consider us constantly amazed at the cosmos and beyond! With new technology constantly being invented and refined, there’s no telling what else scientists may learn in the coming years.
