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Cosmology

Universal peekaboo

Nature volume 401, pages 219–221 (1999)Cite this article

Near the end of the millennium, new observations and analyses are suggesting answers to some of the most profound and ageless questions. What is the extent of the Universe? How old is it? What is its shape? What is its ultimate fate? The answers to these questions have come from philosophers and religious leaders, but in the realm of experimental science answers are now coming from exploding stars and the gentle tug of gravity. Recent astronomical observations suggest that the Universe may be influenced by a positive ‘cosmological constant’ that affects its evolution. On page 252 of this issue1, Zehavi and Dekel present a synthesis of several observations that tightens the case for a positive cosmological constant. The likely implications for the Universe of a positive cosmological constant are eternal, accelerating expansion.

The difficulty in modern observational cosmology is that we do not know of a single controlled experiment that would reveal the individual values of the cosmological parameters. Rather, cosmologists must coax nature into revealing the values of the parameters by combining data from ongoing astrophysical activity. Although data from different techniques will constrain a different mix of the cosmological parameters, we can combine such observations in the hope that they will converge on a single set of values. This has led to the birth of ‘peekaboo’ cosmology, in which cosmologists overlay independent constraints on the allowed cosmological parameter space until only a narrow space or window remains through which we can peek to find answers to our questions about the Universe2,3,4,5,6.

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Figure 1: Window on the Universe.

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  1. Space Telescope Institute, Baltimore, 21218, Maryland, USA

    Adam G. Riess

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  1. Adam G. Riess
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Correspondence to Adam G. Riess.

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Riess, A. Universal peekaboo. Nature 401, 219–221 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/45693

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