For the past four decades, Wendy Freedman, a researcher at the University of Chicago, has been delving into the mysteries of the universe. Her focus has been on unraveling the uncertainties surrounding the value of the Hubble constant – a number that represents the speed at which the universe is expanding.
The idea of the universe’s expansion was first discovered in 1929 by Edwin Hubble, an American astronomer. He found that the further an object is from us, the faster it appears to be moving away. This revelation led to the need for accurate measurements of astronomical distances to determine the Hubble constant.
In the past, calculating these distances was challenging and imprecise. Astronomical images were captured using telescopes and photographic plates, but this method had its limitations. However, the advent of digital photography in the 1980s revolutionized astronomy, providing more accurate measurements of the Hubble constant.
Throughout her career, Freedman has played a crucial role in addressing the “Hubble tension” – the discrepancy between the two main methods of measuring the Hubble constant. Her work has sought to explore new physics that could explain this inconsistency.
However, a surprising turn of events has occurred. Freedman’s latest findings suggest that there may be no problem with the Hubble constant after all. If this is indeed the case, it would render the decades of work investigating new physics redundant. Nevertheless, Freedman remains willing to embrace controversy.
