According to the ACT measurements, the Universe is expanding at a rate of 67.6km per second per megaparsec.
In other words, any celestial body one megaparsec or 3.26 million light-years from our planet is moving away from us by 67.6km per second.
This figure almost matches the Hubble constant of 67.4km per second per megaparsec provided by ESA’s Planck satellite, while also being slower than the 74km per second per megaparsec derived from other observations.
Steve Choi, Cornell Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow and lead author of the new study, said: “I didn’t have a particular preference for any specific value – it was going to be interesting one way or another.
“We find an expansion rate that is right on the estimate by the Planck satellite team.
“This gives us more confidence in measurements of the universe’s oldest light.”