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Death of the universe?(7 End) Astronomers have much to learn about the influence of dark energy and dark matter.And much of the newest information is coming from this probe in deep space.It's sending back information that's helping scientists to interpret the history and the fate of the universe.The night sky by all appearance is a quiet and peaceful place.But in reality there are forces that are driving it to an end.Big Science moves astronomers closer to deciphering the universe's great mysteries.Including its ultimate fate. The solution to the universe's riddle may well be hidden in this multi-colored image.What's incredible is that it's a map of the early universe from the moment it was conceived.And even more fantastic, it reveals a great story that helps cosmologists predict how it will end?The machine that captured this is called WMAP a NASA satellite that's working around the clock to chart the cosmos. WMAP is one of the great astronomical brea...

Death of the universe?(6) Hubble sees more than just stars and galaxies.It just might be on to one of the key ingredient of space.An invisible ingredient that could put the brakes on dark energy's effect and cause a Big Chill.That's dark matter.Scientists talk about dark matter as the substance that holds the universe together and could prevent a Big Rip.Evidence that dark matter exists is seen in some of Hubble's images of nearby galaxies.It sometimes appears as though other galaxies surround them.The other galaxies are not really there at all.Rather they are reflections of more distant galaxies coming from behind. Astronomers suspect this optical illusion is dark matter causing aweird distortion of light called gravitational lensing.The light from the more distant galaxies is literally bent by the curvature of space caused by stars and dark matter in its path.The more dark matter there is between Earth and the distant galaxy the more the light will be bent and the grea...

Death of the universe?(5) What would atoms ripping apart look like? Things like coffee cups are solid, Atom join together to create somthing that will hold a cappucino without leaking a single drop. Zoom in through the cup like sailing through the cosmo, pass the molecules, and into the stoms. The solid cup is nothing more than a fabric of atomic particles that formed a bond to become matter. If these particles were to move apart, the bond that hold this cup together stop working. The atoms no longer support molecules.The connection between the miniscule particles dissolve.Matter in the form of this cup seizes to exist.It disintegrates.Gone from the existence.This is the dramatic end that Robert Caldwell foresees for the universe. What you would see if you were standing on Earth or standing on some other planet that happened to still be around at that time, you would see something that looks like a wall of darkness approaching you.And as the wall of darkness approaches stars would g...

Death of the universe?(4) So, when the universe was young, gravity was the most dominant force. And so what we see here is galaxies as particles on the surface of the water are bound together by gravity. And the point about seven billion years ago, dark energy and gravity are pretty well in balance. But the universe continues to expand, the density goesdown, and so dark energy starts to take over. And lo and behold, the universe starts to accelerate. So dark energy is now the dominant property of space. So, the universe started out with the certain amount of energy. And we know, we're trying to understand how much energy there is. And we know the universe is expanding as it moves outward with time. We also know now that the universe's expansion is accelerating. And we don't know, is that acceleration going to slow down or not. We're still trying to understand that. So in understanding what's going to happen to the fate of the universe, we have to know how much ener...

Death of the universe?(3) This dark matter is responsible for producing galaxies in a finite amount of time. If we had to rely on the gravity of atomic matter to produce galaxies, we wouldn't be anywhere, we wouldn't exist today to be able to ask these questions. Cause there's not enough time for gravity to have condensed the atomic matter that we know exists in the cosmos, So dark matter has to exist to give, to help this process out and speed it up. Yet the universe continues to expand and isn't showing any signs of collapsing. This suggests the opposing force of dark energy could be stronger than dark matter. But it will take scientific detective work to find out. They look to one of the most violent forces in the universe for clues. We studying exploding stars to try to understand if they can tell us the rate at which the universe is expanding. These are explosions at the end of the lives of stars, not unlike our sun. The fuel that these stars have in their cente...

Death of the universe?(2) In this scenario, the universe could return to its original state just before the Big Bang setting the stage for a perpetual seesaw of creation ang destruction. The Big Crunch theory moved to a scientific backburner. Cosmologists worked out that there must be some form of energy that keeps the universe from collapsing.The existence of such a force leads to new theories about what the universe is made of and how it might end. And evidence about how this might play out is found in some of the most powerful and mysterious phenomena in the cosmos...Black Holes. Predicting how the universe will end involves some of the most advanced technology known to man. On a remote volcano on the island of Hawaii, astronomers are monitoring a battle in space that is shaping the fate of the universe. At an elevation of nearly 4,300 meters, the Keck Telescopes bring astronomers from all over the world nearer to space for a clearer view of the cosmos. They come here because th...

Death of the universe?(1) Will our universe come to an end? Will it rip to shreds in a flash? Collapse on it self? Or will it slowly freeze to death? Scientists are imaging the unimaginable and they're coming up with some wild ideas about how it's all going to end. This is the end of the universe. A battle is taking place in the farthest reaches of space. No one can see it, but scientists are certain that it's happening and that the outcome is grim. The universe is going to the end. It won't happen for billions of years  but there is no way out. Working out how it will end is the challenge of astrophysicists around the world. They're pointing high-tech equipment out toward the heavens to unlock the secrets of our fate. The possibilities are frightening. In one scenario ...gravity pulls the universe back into itself similar to air being let out of an inflated balloon. The universe goes back to its original size. This is the big Crunch. It'd be the end univers...