Most distant galaxy cluster found

UPI | 4/10/02 | PHIL BERARDELLI

[Scully]

Ping to those on RadioAstronomer's list. He is working long hours on a project and will be away much of the next 5 weeks. I will do my best to keep people pinged to interesting science threads.

[Nebullis]

Thank you, Scully.

[Brett66]

Thanks for the ping.

[PatrickHenry]

Thanks for the ping. I'm ||CLOAKED|| and lurking.

[gcruse]

evolved into the seemingly random and
irregular structures that comprise the visible universe.

Is random the right word?  Last I heard, the
structures in the universe are arranged outside
the 'bubbles' of a 'foamy' universe.  Not random.

[gcruse]

The most distant galaxies are the fastest travelers in the Universe,

Aargh.  These galaxies aren't traveling any faster then we are.
They are essentially sitting there while the space between us
expands.

[longshadow]

elderly galactic bttt

[AndrewC]

These galaxies aren't traveling any faster then we are. They are essentially sitting there while the space between us expands.

Do they even still "exist"?

[Joe Hadenuf]

They may not. However, much can be analyzed and studied from the light that was/is emitted from those galaxys that continues to reach the Earth.

[farmfriend]

I will do my best to keep people pinged to interesting science threads.

Thank you.

[green team 1999]

good post,thanks

[blam]

Traveling at the speed of light for 13.5 billion years. Man, that's a long way! How many miles away is that?

[edwin hubble]

Scully, Thanks much for the ping.

gcruse: About randomess and order.
Order and randomness seem to alternate as you increase scale from which the universe is viewed.
So...
- Our solar system seems to have a clockwork order.
- But stars tumble and drift within the galaxy's arms (randomness)
- Then the arms sweep in approximate radial symmetry and almost "phonograph record" radial velocity curves (order)
- But galaxies tumble loosely around the centers of mass of clusters (randomness)
- Then superclusters form into vast sheets and bubbles, with planar arrangements of clusters, and vast "empty" zones, or voids. (order)
- Then on the greatest scale, a vast gray just barely differentiated or mottled slightly. (amorphous or random).

This is a gross oversimplification, but it is interesting how order and randomness seem to alternate over a range of scales.

[Gordian Blade]

13.5 billion years at 186,000 miles per second, let's see...
186,000 miles per second times
3,600 seconds per hour times
24 hours per day times
365.25 days per year times
13.5 billion years = (approximately)
80,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles

[fire and forget]

Thanks for the post and ping. Check this out: If one could peer in ANY direction away from the Earth far enough back in time, one could observe the earliest detectible light and radio signatures of the universe and thus there is no single location from which all the matter and energy of the universe expanded. In other words, the Origin (the Big Bang) lies many billions of light-years away from us in EVERY direction. If we could look 14b light-years in ANY direction, we would see the universe when it was much smaller and dramatically closer to where it all began. Thus, the "point" from which the Big Bang kicked off, almost infinitely small at that time, now still encompasses the entire universe.

Simply mind-boggling. Our limited three-dimensional consciousness and the curvature of space-time make it impossible for our linear perception to grasp the true constitution of the universe outside unwieldy and insanely complex mathematical models. Gives me a headache everytime I think about it.

[blam]

"80,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles"

Holy Moly. How do I 'say' that?

[jennyp]

80 sextillion miles, I think.

[blam]

"80 sextillion miles, I think."

LOL. Thanks.

[fire and forget]

No offense, but my trusty logarithm and a hasty calculation adjusted for quantum factors, gravity-induced deviations in the path light follows through space and other considerations, you're off by a parsec at least :)