Nasa telescope shows universe is expanding at an unexpected rate

The universe appears to be expanding faster than initially thought possible, according to new observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

There is an unexplained discrepancy between the observed expansion rate of the universe and the rate scientists thought was possible based on our knowledge of the cosmos - known as the Hubble tension. But, according to new research in The Astrophysical Journal, new measurements from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have confirmed that the Hubble tension is not down to a flaw in our observations but potentially due to the influence of dark matter and dark energy - a hypothetical form of energy proposed by physicists to explain the accelerating expansion rate.

For the study, the research team analysed data from the JWST's first two years in space to calculate the rate at which galaxies were moving away from each other. This new data confirmed the findings of the Hubble Space Telescope, that the universe is expanding faster today than it did during its first few billion years.

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Study co-author Adam Riess, a Nobel laureate and professor of physics and astronomy at Johns Hopkins University, said in a statement: "The discrepancy between the observed expansion rate of the universe and the predictions of the standard model suggests that our understanding of the universe may be incomplete.

"With two NASA flagship telescopes now confirming each other's findings, we must take this [Hubble tension] problem very seriously - it's a challenge but also an incredible opportunity to learn more about our universe."

Today’s rate of expansion of the universe is a figure known as the Hubble constant. This is measured in units