The dominating form of energy in the cosmos, dark energy is driving the accelerating expansion of the universe, but its nature remains a complete mystery.
The only real answer to the question"what is dark energy?" currently is"we don't know" as unsatisfactory as that may be. Scientists aren't completely in the dark, however. There are some leading candidates to account for dark energy.
All of these remain purely hypothetical meaning that the only way we can really"know" dark energy currently is via its effect on the universe. If dark energy is causing the universe to expand at an accelerating rate, shouldn't we see our coffee mug shift away from us or notice our commute to work getting longer each day?
As a simple analogy for this, imagine drawing three spots on a deflated balloon, two close together and the other further apart. In this analogy, dark energy is the breath blowing into the balloon overcoming gravity which is represented by the tension of the balloon's rubber skin. As the balloon is inflated all three points will move away from each other, but the furthest point will move away more rapidly.
The rate of expansion has been measured for the galaxy Galaxy GN-z11, one of the oldest galaxies ever discovered which we see as it was when the universe was just 400 million years old. An estimated 32 billion light-years away, dark energy is expanding the fabric of space at such a rate that GN-z11 is moving away from us at an estimated speed of 426,882 miles per second — over twice the speed of light.
Don't be fooled by the similar names, dark energy and dark matter — sometimes grouped together and described as the"dark universe"' — aren't believed to be related aside from a few superficial similarities.Both"dark" aspects of the universe are mysterious and have thus far defied explanation, and both can't be directly detected with their existence inferred by the effect they have on visible matter.
It is almost as if dark energy and gravity are in a cosmic tug 'o' war with the universe as the rope. The main competitor with the most"pull" on the side of gravity is dark matter. But how much"muscle" does dark matter actually have?
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