Charting the slow death of the Universe

"The Universe will decline from here on in, 

sliding gently into old age. 

The Universe has basically sat down on the sofa, pulled up a blanket and is about to nod off for an eternal doze." 

Charting the slow death of the Universe: All the energy in the Universe was created in the Big Bang, with some portion locked up as mass. Stars shine by converting mass into energy, as described by Einstein's famous equation E=mc2 [2]. The GAMA study sets out to map and model all of the energy generated within a large volume of space today and at different times in the past.

"While most of the energy sloshing around in the Universe arose in the aftermath of the Big Bang, additional energy is constantly being generated by stars as they fuse elements like hydrogen and helium together,"" Simon Driver says. "This new energy is either absorbed by dust as it travels through the host galaxy, or escapes into intergalactic space and travels until it hits something, such as another star, a planet, or, very occasionally, a telescope mirror."

The fact that the Universe is slowly fading has been known since the late 1990s, but this work shows that it is happening across all wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the infrared, representing the most comprehensive assessment of the energy output of the nearby Universe.

"The Universe will decline from here on in, sliding gently into old age. The Universe has basically sat down on the sofa, pulled up a blanket and is about to nod off for an eternal doze," concludes Simon Driver.