A New Catalog of Close to 3,000 Supernova Challenges Theories on Dark Energy

An international team led by researchers at the University of Queensland's School of Mathematics and Physics has created the largest-ever dataset of supernovae, including 2,884 Type 1a supernovae. The dataset combines 30 years of historical measurements with data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES), published in 2024, along with other cosmological datasets. The researchers claim that dark energy may not be constant as previously thought. The dataset includes information on 2,884 Type 1a supernovae, a rare type that occurs about once every 500 years. The findings contradict the standard model of cosmology, which assumes dark energy is fixed and unchanging. The results are based on reanalysis of older supernova observations using modern techniques and the integration of data from different telescopes. The dataset accounts for factors that affect light from supernovae, such as cosmic dust and gravitational lensing. The results suggest that dark energy may vary over time, adding to previous findings that the effects of dark energy vary over time. The study, published in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, is an important step in understanding the true nature of dark energy.

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