#GravitationalLenses could be the key to measuring the #expansion #rate of the #Universe

Issued by Universe Today

Gravitational lenses could be the key to measuring the expansion rate of the Universe

One of the big mysteries in cosmology today is the rate that the Universe is expanding. Fortunately, several different techniques were developed to measure the expansion rate at different distances and epochs in time. A new method might be one of the best discovered: gravitational lensing. The gravity from a foreground object can magnify and distort the light from a background object. And if that light takes multiple paths to reach us, it's possible to tease out the rate that the Universe is expanding. Amazing science.