Developments in Brief : New Calculations Put Age of Universe at Relatively Young 11 Billion Years Old
The universe may be only 11 billion years old, far younger than commonly thought, according to a new study.
Determining the age of the universe is one of the most important but hotly disputed problems in astronomy, with estimates ranging from 7 billion to 25 billion years.
The newest calculations were made by Harvey Butcher, astronomy professor at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. He arrived at his conclusions after studying light from the sun and 20 other stars of the Milky Way galaxy.
Butcher analyzed such light for signs of two metallic elements in the stars, which could be studied as a kind of cosmic clock to tell when the elements formed.
If Butcher’s estimate is correct, “both the accepted physics of stellar evolution and the age of the universe require substantial revision,” Gerry Gilmore, a leading British astronomer, wrote in an editorial in Nature magazine that accompanied Butcher’s report.
