If the expansion of the universe is speeding up...?

Yes. And the amount of Dark Energy in our universe is keeping the expansion going.

DARK ENERGY

Observation: The universe is expanding at an accelerating rate. Fact.

General Relativity: If you crank through the equations, IF space was pervaded by a thin "mist" of energy then that energy would create "Repulsive Gravity." ====> Dark Energy is predicted by General Relativity.

History: When Einstein cranked through GR he found that the universe should have collapsed on itself shortly after the Big Bang. Clearly, that was not what happened, so he added just enough Dark Energy (The concept of Dark Energy did not exist at the time, for Einstein it was a true Fudge Factor, but that is what he actually did, add invisible energy to the universe.) to make the universe steady state. At the time it was believed that the universe was steady state neither expanding or contracting. Einstein believed it and added a Fudge Factor he called the Cosmological Constant to make his calculations match what he believed to be true. Then Hubble showed that the universe was expanding. Einstein called the Cosmological Constant his "Biggest Blunder."

Now, years later we find that there is a need for a Cosmological Constant to "fine tune" GR to match what we see in the universe. It is no longer a Fudge Factor but the Energy Density of Dark Energy in our universe. Its value in Planck Units is 1.38 * 10^-122. When the Cosmological Constant is small, gravity causes a universe to collapse on itself. When the Cosmological Constant is large, the Dark Energy causes the universe to blow itself apart. Our universe is blowing itself apart, but it is close enough to the steady state balance density that the process has taken and will take billions of years.

UNITS:

Observations announced in 1998 of distance–redshift relation for Type Ia supernovae[4][5] indicated that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. When combined with measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation these implied a value of ,[6] a result which has been supported and refined by more recent measurements. There are other possible causes of an accelerating universe, such as quintessence, but the cosmological constant is in most respects the simplest solution. Thus, the current standard model of cosmology, the Lambda-CDM model, includes the cosmological constant, which is measured to be on the order of 10−52 m−2, in metric units. Multiplied by other constants that appear in the equations, it is often expressed as 10−35 s−2, 10−47 GeV4, 10−29 g/cm3.[7] In terms of Planck units, and as a natural dimensionless value, the cosmological constant, λ, is on the order of 10−122.[8] Observations announced in 1998 of distance–redshift relation for Type Ia supernovae[4][5] indicated that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. When combined with measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation these implied a value of ,[6] a result which has been supported and refined by more recent measurements. There are other possible causes of an accelerating universe, such as quintessence, but the cosmological constant is in most respects the simplest solution. Thus, the current standard model of cosmology, the Lambda-CDM model, includes the cosmological constant, which is measured to be on the order of 10−52 m−2, in metric units. Multiplied by other constants that appear in the equations, it is often expressed as 10−35 s−2, 10−47 GeV4, 10−29 g/cm3.[7] In terms of Planck units, and as a natural dimensionless value, the cosmological constant, λ, is on the order of 10−122.[8]

http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe/uni_accel.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/brian_greene_why_is_our_u...

producing greater area between products isn't the comparable as products moving via area. in fact each and every thing previous the observable universe is receding from us at greater advantageous than the fee of sunshine. notice that the fee of recession of two products, ie the Hubble consistent, is in fact (unavoidably) proportional to distance aside. subsequently, previous the observable universe maximum of it fairly is receding at many situations the fee of sunshine.