This seems likely because each blob appears to be moving at the same rate, Herrnstein says. Even if the masers move in elliptical orbits, rather than in circles, as the team supposed, a discrepancy with the Cepheid distance still holds, he adds. Nonetheless, he says, astronomers must explain the difference between the radio and Cepheid measurements before they can assume that they have accurately determined the age of the cosmos. Freedman says the debate may continue until 2005, when the Space Interferometry Mission measures the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud. Meeting of the American Astronomical Society.
Hubble telescope dates the universe .