The Hubble constant enters big bang cosmology by quantifying the expansion rate of the universe. Accurate estimation of the Hubble constant comes distance and red-shift measurements from Type Ia supernovae. It is shown that the standard statistical technique for estimating Hubble's constant is statistically inconsistent and results in a systematically too low value. The preliminary results were published in the november 2010 issue of The Astrophysical Journal 2010 (vol 723, 766-68). The underestimation is a statistical artefact resulting from not taking the measurement error in the distance measurements into account. It is shown how to estimate Hubble's constant consistently resulting in a change in estimate of 1.2%. The new estimate implies that the universe is 170 million years younger than previously thought.

Keywords: Hubble constant; Unbiased estimation; Supernovae

Biography: Associate professor in Biostatistics