Universe's most distant galaxy discovered

Phys.Org ^ | 10-23-2013 | Provided by Texas A&M University

[Red Badger]

This image from the Hubble Space Telescope CANDELS survey highlights the most distant galaxy in the universe with a measured distance, dubbed z8_GND_5296. The galaxy's red color alerted astronomers that it was likely extremely far away and, thus, seen at an early time after the Big Bang. A team of astronomers including Steven Finkelstein of the University of Texas at Austin and Vithal Tilvi of Texas A&M University measured the exact distance using the Keck I telescope with the new MOSFIRE spectrograph. They found that this galaxy is seen at about 700 million years after the Big Bang, when the universe was just 5% of its current age of 13.8 billion years. Credit: V. Tilvi, Texas A&M University; S.L. Finkelstein, University of Texas at Austin; C. Papovich, Texas A&M University; CANDELS Team and Hubble Space Telescope/NASA

This is an artist's rendition of the newly discovered most distant galaxy z8_GND_5296. (The galaxy looks red in the actual Hubble Space Telescope image because the collective blue light from stars get shifted toward redder colors due to the expansion of the universe and its large distance from Earth.) Credit: V. Tilvi, S.L. Finkelstein, C. Papovich, NASA, ESA, A. Aloisi, The Hubble Heritage, HST, STScI, and AURA.

[Red Badger]

Space ping!..........

[DManA]

I tried to imagine how big the universe is one night waiting for sleep. I got close and had a kind of panic attack for my efforts.

[yoe]

I was a skeptic about the "big bang" theory until I read (this) by physicist Gerald Schroeder.

[clamper1797]

the most distant spectroscopically confirmed galaxy ever found ... so far.

It's so far away it's almost to the outer boundary of the neighboring universe. Think of our known universe as a bubble in soap. How many other bubbles are there?

Imagine if you could grow yourself so large that our known universe was the size of a grain of sand ... and then postulate what you might see from that viewpoint.

Then imagine how fast you could travel from one end of the universe to the other.

[Lancey Howard]

Until next year, or next month, when they discover a galaxy even further away.
And then another, the following year.

Etc.

[Red Badger]

The only thing bigger than the Universe is the One who created it...............

[headsonpikes]

Don’t forget to exhale!

[clamper1797]

It would have to be some really good stuff :<)

[rarestia]

LOL! I’ve been there.

[BlueDragon]

you can't get there from here

[henkster]

And it’s amazing how many other galaxies are visible in that one image from Hubble.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

What is interesting...even though it is only an artist's renition...is that this galaxy does not seem to have evidence of a central black hole or singularity. Hard to tell if it is a spiral type galaxy.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I read "Genesis and the Big Bang" years ago. Fascinating.

When family discussions on Genesis/Big Bang would erupt, my father-in-law always asked the question, "How long was a day when there was no Earth? Better to substitute the phrase 'a period of time' for the word 'day' in Genesis. Then it makes much more sense."

[Rebelbase]

"That means that our whole solar system could be, like one tiny atom in the fingernail of some other giant being . This is too much! That means one tiny atom in my fingernail could be tiny universe!"

[onedoug]

Very interesting, but...the prevalence of G2 stars would have required heavy element burning in at least one or two earlier generations of larger stars, which would have required at least a few billion years including supernova production, element spreading and subsequent accretion. I’m a little fuzzy about how this then young galaxy could produce so many G2s.

[I want the USA back]

“30 billion light years away. “
I thought the Universe was only 14 billion years old.

When we look at something 13 billion light years away we are seeing it as it was 13 billion years ago. So why is it so far? I thought the universe was expanding. So why isn’t it closer?

[Colofornian]

Universe's most distant galaxy discovered

You forgot to add the proper qualifier to this headline: Universe's most distant galaxy discovered [until the next 'most distant' galaxy is discovered]

[Red Badger]

Well, it went one way for 14 billion years and we went the other way...............

[Red Badger]

I’m a little fuzzy about how this then young galaxy could produce so many G2s.

Bureaucracy.........