Scientists have achieved a groundbreaking feat by observing the early state of the universe in extreme slow-motion, thanks to data obtained from quasars, which are massive and brilliantly bright objects located far from Earth. These quasars act as “lighthouses” that carry the history of celestial objects within the light they emit, such as stars and galaxies.
Over a span of nearly two decades, researchers in Australia and New Zealand meticulously observed 190 quasars, harnessing the data to create a virtual “universal clock.” By comparing different wavelengths to the ticking of a clock, they could decipher the progression of time in the early universe.
The light from these quasars traversed the cosmos for billions of years before reaching telescopes, providing valuable insights into the distant past. This remarkable achievement is grounded in Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, which reveals how time varies across different spatial and temporal contexts.
The University of Sydney Professor Gerent Lewis elucidated, “Thanks to Einstein, we comprehend the interconnected nature of time and space. The universe, stemming from a single point in the Big Bang, is expanding. An expanding universe entails that time in the early stages flows significantly slower than it does presently.
This research delved into events occurring approximately one billion years after the Big Bang.” Professor Lewis further explained that immediately following the Big Bang, roughly 13.8 billion years ago, time in the universe flowed at a fifth of its present rate.
While a second would have appeared as a standard unit of time in the early universe, from our current standpoint, approximately 12 billion years later, that exact second would seem to drag on. The discrepancy arises due to the relativity of time, which becomes apparent when comparing different temporal epochs. These groundbreaking findings were published in the esteemed journal Nature Astronomy by Professor Lewis and his colleague, Dr. Brendan Brewer, a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland.
By unraveling the early state of the universe and comprehending how time evolved during its formative stages, scientists have taken a monumental step toward understanding the fundamental nature of our cosmos. This achievement sheds light on the intricate interplay between space, time, and the universe’s expansion, deepening our knowledge of the origin and evolution of the cosmos.
