How did the Universe begin? A scientist has brought back a nearly 100-year-old idea that refutes one of the most established theories of modern science.
As shown in a study published in the journal Particlescomputer science professor Lior Shamir from Kansas State University (USA) argues that photons of light lose energy as they travel vast distances through space.
The “tired light” theory, as it is called, was first proposed by astronomer Fritz Zwicky in 1929 to explain the redshift (decrease in photon energy of light as wavelength increases) as it moves away from us.
Astronomers have challenged the idea time and time again
In other words, the theory holds that the Universe must be static and not expanding at an accelerated rate, given that light loses energy over time instead of showing motion between galaxies, according to .
Since then, astronomers have repeatedly challenged the idea. Now, Shamir claims that data from the James Webb Space Telescope, mankind’s most powerful space observatory, supports this idea.
“Some astronomers’ confidence in the Big Bang theory has begun to wane”
“In the 1920s, Edwin Hubble and George Lemaitre discovered that the farther away a galaxy is, the faster it is moving away from Earth. That discovery led to the Big Bang theory, suggesting that the Universe 13.8 billion years ago. The tired light theory was largely neglected while astronomers embraced the Big Bang theory. But some astronomers’ faith in the Big Bang theory began to wane when the powerful James Webb Space Telescope first saw light,” Shamir wrote in a press release.
Shamir argues that the telescope revealed a striking discrepancy that should force us to rethink how we currently understand the creation of the Universe.
“These galaxies are older than the Universe itself”
Instead of showing the early Universe, Webb revealed “large, mature galaxies.” “If the Big Bang happened as scientists originally thought, these galaxies are older,” Shamir continued.
However, it is not clear whether other scientists will agree to reinstate Zwicky’s theory. First, astronomers have argued in the past that distant objects would appear blurrier if photon energy decayed. Until now, researchers have not observed the loss of energy by photons as they travel through space.
