Most Distant Galaxy in Universe Detected

Associated Press ^ | Mon Mar 1, 2004 | JOHN LEICESTER

[Michael Barnes]

Thanks! Didn't know that (about the book)...

[Licensed-To-Carry]

I looked at The Elegant Universe and read the article about T.O.E. and have a basic question. In their example about the apple being reduced down to it's smallest component, the string, could the string somehow be altered to another vibration frequency and the apple thus be changed into an orange?

[Licensed-To-Carry]

So do the galaxies expand faster than the speed of light? If we all started out at the same place (the big bang), then would these young galaxies being on the other side of the balloon expand faster than the speed of light, for instance, we are going one direction at light speed and they are going the other direction at light speed, is this twice light speed?

[Michael Barnes]

re #22

Sorry LTC, (hmm..License to carry; Lieutenant Col.? inquiring minds and all *cough*)...at any rate, I don't pretend to know this "stuff"..Only got turned on to it a couple years back. Figure in 20 years or so, my understanding will be enough as to make heads or tails of the math, let alone the philosohpy behind it.

I'm just glad the science grabbed me as it did...I love this reading and love the learning.

[Licensed-To-Carry]

Well thanks for your response. I have never been one for math, but the philosohpy of these theories really is interesting, to say the least. Enjoyed the chat, good night.

[rightwingcrazy]

"So do the galaxies expand faster than the speed of light? If we all started out at the same place (the big bang), then would these young galaxies being on the other side of the balloon expand faster than the speed of light, for instance, we are going one direction at light speed and they are going the other direction at light speed, is this twice light speed?"

No, Einstein showed us that nothing can appear to travel faster than the speed of light from us. So if there's this galaxy (A) where they see us travelling away at 1/2 the speed of light, and they also see another galaxy (galaxy B) travelling in the opposite direction at 1/2 the speed of light, *we* would still see galaxy B travelling from *us* at something *less* than the speed of light. Not 1/2+1/2=1 times the speed of light. This is a concept that puts most people's minds in a twist.

If we tried really hard, we'd just determine that galaxy A's clocks weren't running right, and so they weren't measuring the speeds right. But the folks in galaxy A would say the same thing about us. All relative, you see.

[Luis Gonzalez]

Is it farther away than Dennis Kucinich's chance to win the nomination?

[Licensed-To-Carry]

Well I understand about the clocks running slower the faster you go but I still don't quite get the concept of being able to see something as it was 13 billion years ago when it started the same time we did. So does galaxy (A) see us as only 2 billion years old and think of themselves as 16 billion years old?

[rightwingcrazy]

Frustratingly, when that galaxy "saw" or "sees" our 2-billion year old galaxy, I believe that it would also consider itself 13-billion years old.

I don't think you need to picture relativity or even an expanding universe to feel comfortable with this. Picture some ancient Roman dropping a bottled message into the ocean, sending it on a westerly ocean current, and some Mayan (or whatever) simultaneously sending one east. If the bottles moved very slowly (OK, a very slow ocean current), it would be the ancestors of each that got the bottles. One would get a message from a young Italy, and the other would get a message from a young America. And yet, they could both look at the calendar, and see the same date.

[Tactical]

"If they are right, they found the earliest object," Ellis said.

OK this "IF" brings on my comment....

So someone spots this galaxy and because they think the "Big Bang" happened around the same time, they think they have seen the farthest place away from us.

So what happens down the road when someone spots another galaxy beyond that? How do they date that galaxy if it's beyond the "Big Bang" time estimation?

Why not start the story out with, This is all just guess-work folks, but it's our best guess? Just my little comment/question.

[RightWingAtheist]

FWIW, this classic Czech science fiction film is playing at the Museum of Modern Art later this month.

[Prodigal Son]

So what happens down the road when someone spots another galaxy beyond that?

Perhaps it's better to ask IF rather than WHEN. The way you ask seems to assume astronomers will discover the universe is much older than current estimates.

[Tactical]

Perhaps it's better to ask IF rather than WHEN. The way you ask seems to assume astronomers will discover the universe is much older than current estimates.

Well sure "IF" would be appropriate, but the possibility of "WHEN" exists too. Who knows what technology will be developed down the road? That's what makes it all fun and interesting.

[PatrickHenry]

Hi, RA!

[Prodigal Son]

Do you believe the universe has a specific age- or is more a variable quantity?

This is more what I was commenting upon. If the universe has a specific age then this comes with certain implications, one of them being that you won't be finding galaxies or other objects that are older than that age.

[RadioAstronomer]

Hi Patrick. :-)

[Dr._Joseph_Warren]

The galaxy ...is at least 10 times smaller than our own galaxy, the Milky Way, ...

Are they sure? 'Cause you know sometimes things just look really really small when they are way far away. ;)