Friday, October 25, 2013

Taking Measure: A ‘New’ Most Distant Galaxy

Taking Measure: A ‘New’ Most Distant Galaxy:
Galaxy z8_GND_5296 (seen in the inset) is the earliest galaxy that astronomers have measured the distance to accurately. It formed approximately 700 million years after the Big Bang, and is forming stars at an incredibly rapid rate. [Credit: V. Tilvi (Texas A&M), S. Finkelstein (UT Austin), the CANDELS team, and HST/NASA]
Galaxy z8_GND_5296 (seen in the inset) is the earliest galaxy that astronomers have measured the distance to accurately. It formed approximately 700 million years after the Big Bang, and is forming stars at an incredibly rapid rate. [Credit: V. Tilvi (Texas A&M), S. Finkelstein (UT Austin), the CANDELS team, and HST/NASA]
“The farthest galaxy yet seen!” Haven’t we heard that one before? (See here and here, for example.) While it’s true that astronomers keep pushing farther back in time with better instruments, there are fundamental challenges both in observing and measuring the distances to the earliest galaxies in the cosmos.
That’s why this new observation of a galaxy that formed about 700 million years after the Big Bang is significant. (...)
Read the rest of Taking Measure: A ‘New’ Most Distant Galaxy (640 words)

© matthewfrancisRMC for Universe Today, 2013. |Permalink |No comment |
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