Redshift 10: Evidence for a New Farthest Galaxy
Explanation:
What's the farthest galaxy known?
The answer
keeps
changing as
astronomers compete to
find galaxies that top the list.
The
new claimed record holder is now the faint smudge
indicated in the above images by an 8.2-meter
Very Large Telescope (VLT) operating in
Chile.
Detected light left this galaxy 13.2 billion of years ago,
well before the Earth formed, when the universe was younger
than 3 percent of its
present age.
Astronomers have
estimated a
redshift of 10 for this galaxy,
the first double-digit claim for any galaxy.
Young galaxies are of much interest to astronomers because many unanswered questions
exist on when and how galaxies formed in the early universe.
The distant redshift, if confirmed, would also give valuable information about
galaxy surroundings
at the end of the universe's
dark age.
Although this galaxy's distance exceeds that of even the
farthest known quasar,
it is still in front of the pervasive glowing gas
that is now seen as the
cosmic microwave background radiation.
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.
