Astronomers Find Evidence That Black Holes May Be the Source of Dark Energy

Astronomers Find Evidence That Black Holes May Be the Source of Dark Energy

Astronomers Find Evidence , That Black Holes May Be the Source , of Dark Energy.

Space.com reports that a team of 17 international researchers led by the University of Hawaii have discovered the first evidence of the source of dark energy.

According to the team, dark energy may originate in black holes.

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Researchers suggest that older black holes are acquiring mass through a form of dark energy known as "vacuum energy.".

According to the team, vacuum energy is , "a kind of energy included in spacetime itself ... [that] pushes the universe further apart, accelerating the expansion." .

If the theory holds, then this is going to revolutionize the whole of cosmology, , Dr. Chris Pearson, STFC RAL Space, Co-author of the study, via Space.com.

... because at last we've got a solution for the origin of dark energy that's been perplexing cosmologists and theoretical physicists for more than 20 years.

, Dr. Chris Pearson, STFC RAL Space, Co-author of the study, via Space.com.

Space.com reports that this is the first time that astronomers have obtained observational data to support the theory, which was first proposed by Einstein.

We're really saying two things at once: That there's evidence the typical black hole solutions don't work for you on a long, long timescale, and we have the first proposed astrophysical source for dark energy, Duncan Farrah, University of Hawaii astronomer, study author, via Space.com.

The team's results were published in 'The Astrophysical Journal Letters' on February 15