Is the Universe losing weight?

[Andy Wilson]

To my understanding there is nothing to indicate a return to the Steady State theory. There is a lot of evidence for a “big bang” style to the beginning of the observable universe, or at least changes to the universe with time that are very difficult for the Steady State theory to explain, such as the increase in the abundance of heavy elements with time. Even though the JWST results don’t quite match expectations, the evolution of galaxies with time can be seen by JWST and other observations. For example, star formation rates observed in galaxies peaked a few billion years ago. Also, quasar activity is observed to decrease with age, i.e. more common in more distance galaxies.
I believe they are still at the stage of analysing and gathering data. So it is too early to tell whether this can be resolved by adjusting model parameters rather than requiring a whole new model.

[Alex Pratt]

This topic is a good incentive to attend the BAA Spring meeting in Cardiff

https://britastro.org/event/baa-spring-meeting

Alex.

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