ÜDS-2012-Autumn-04
Oct. 7, 2012 • 2 min
Astronomers have a reputation for bringing us stunning discoveries: new planets and galaxies on the edge of the known universe. But now they are on the trail of the most notable finding of all: evidence for a whole new universe beyond our own. For millennia, philosophers have insisted everything we see is part of the all-encompassing totality called the universe. And for centuries, astronomers have been mapping its immensity, using more and more powerful telescopes to probe deeper into space. It seemed clear, however, that there was a limit to what they could see, as they were examining what was comprehensible for them. Since the discovery of cosmic expansion, they believed there must be a final frontier, but today, there is mounting excitement that it may be possible to probe beyond this far horizon. According to the latest theories in cosmology, what has been regarded as the universe might be just one of an infinite number making up something far grander – the Multiverse. But the Multiverse model is highly problematic; the biggest difficulty is that the existence of such parallel universes can be neither verified nor falsified. No less amazing, an orbiting observatory, named Planck, has revealed many features about our universe such as its age and size since it was launched in 2009, and astronomers believe it may be able to travel the Multiverse and do even more.