Universe bigger and a little older

LONDON - Generations of astrophysicists may have miscalculated the size and age of the universe, according to initial data from…

LONDON - Generations of astrophysicists may have miscalculated the size and age of the universe, according to initial data from a European Space Agency (ESA) satellite presented at a meeting of scientists at the Royal Astronomical Society in London yesterday.

Results from the Hipparcos satellite suggest the observable universe could be around to per cent bigger, and therefore a little older, than previously thought, indicating the yardstick used since 1912 to measure the cosmos could be wrong, scientists said.

The results, presented by Prof Michael Feast of the University of Cape Town, also take four billion years off the age of the oldest stars, clearing up the paradox that some were apparently older than the universe.

Hipparcos circled the earth from 1989 to 1993, using telescopes and computers to map the positions of 100,000 stars.