New measurement confirms universe is expanding too fast for current models

Amazing stuff!

"... This discrepancy between model and data became known as the Hubble tension. Now, results ... provide even stronger support for the faster rate of expansion. ...

"The Universe really seems to be expanding fast. Too fast, even.

A new measurement confirms what previous — and highly debated — results had shown: The Universe is expanding faster than predicted by theoretical models, and faster than can be explained by our current understanding of physics. ...

Determining the expansion rate of the universe—known as the Hubble constant—has been a major scientific pursuit ever since 1929, when Edwin Hubble first discovered that the universe was expanding. ...

Measuring the Universe requires a cosmic ladder, which is a succession of methods used to measure the distances to celestial objects, with each method, or “rung,” relying on the previous for calibration. ..."

From the abstract (regrettably, an abstract written only for a few specialists):

"The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collaboration measured a tight relation between the Hubble constant (H0) and the distance to the Coma cluster using the fundamental plane (FP) relation of the deepest, most homogeneous sample of early-type galaxies. To determine H0, we measure the distance to Coma by several independent routes, each with its own geometric reference. We measure the most precise distance to Coma from 13 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) in the cluster with a mean standardized brightness of $m_B^0=15.710\pm 0.040$ mag. Calibrating the absolute magnitude of SNe Ia with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) distance ladder yields DComa = 98.5 ± 2.2 Mpc, consistent with its canonical value of 95–100 Mpc. This distance results in H0 = 76.5 ± 2.2 km s−1 Mpc−1 from the DESI FP relation. Inverting the DESI relation by calibrating it instead to the Planck+ΛCDM value of H0 = 67.4 km s−1 Mpc−1 implies a much greater distance to Coma, DComa = 111.8 ± 1.8 Mpc, 4.6σ beyond a joint, direct measure. Independent of SNe Ia, the HST Key Project FP relation as calibrated by Cepheids, the tip of the red giant branch from JWST, or HST near-infrared surface brightness fluctuations all yield DComa < 100 Mpc, in joint tension themselves with the Planck-calibrated route at >3σ. From a broad array of distance estimates compiled back to 1990, it is hard to see how Coma could be located as far as the Planck+ΛCDM expectation of >110 Mpc. By extending the Hubble diagram to Coma, a well-studied location in our own backyard whose distance was in good accord well before the Hubble tension, DESI indicates a more pervasive conflict between our knowledge of local distances and cosmological expectations. We expect future programs to refine the distance to Coma and nearer clusters to help illuminate this new local window on the Hubble tension."

Turning the Hubble tension into a crisis: New measurement confirms universe is expanding too fast for current models

Dan Scolnic Shows that the Universe Is Still Full of Surprises (original news release)

The Hubble Tension in Our Own Backyard: DESI and the Nearness of the Coma Cluster (open access)

Figure 1. (Left) The locations of the SNe Ia identified to be in the Coma cluster (yellow stars) and the galaxies identified to be in the Coma group as from the full S24 Coma group catalog (light gray circles), the S24 FP sample (dark blue circles), and the T15 Coma group catalog (light blue circles). The center of the cluster is marked in red. ...

(Right) For the rectangular box on the left, a colored image of that sky area with the SNe within that location marked.