Breaking Distant Light
Explanation:
In the distant universe,
time appears to run slow.
Since
time-dilated light appears shifted toward the red end of the
spectrum (redshifted), astronomers are able to use
cosmological time-slowing to help measure vast
distances in the universe.
Above, the light from
distant galaxies
has been broken up into its constituent colors
(
spectra), allowing astronomers to measure the
redshift of known
spectral lines.
The novelty of the
above image is that the
distance to hundreds of galaxies
can now be measured on a single frame using the
Visible MultiObject
Spectrograph that has begun operating at the
Very Large Telescope array in
Chile.
Analyzing the space distribution of
distant objects
will allow insight into when and how stars,
galaxies, and
quasars formed, clustered, and
evolved in the
early universe.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
