Posted on 03/04/2005 7:30:56 AM PST by Michael_Michaelangelo
Combining observations with ESO's Very Large Telescope and ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory, astronomers have discovered the most distant, very massive structure in the Universe known so far. It is a remote cluster of galaxies that is found to weigh as much as several thousand galaxies like our own Milky Way and is located no less than 9,000 million light-years away.
The VLT images reveal that it contains reddish and elliptical, i.e. old, galaxies. Interestingly, the cluster itself appears to be in a very advanced state of development. It must therefore have formed when the Universe was less than one third of its present age.
The discovery of such a complex and mature structure so early in the history of the Universe is highly surprising. Indeed, until recently it would even have been deemed impossible.
[snip]
"We are quite surprised to see that a fully-fledged structure like this could exist at such an early epoch," says Christopher Mullis. "We see an entire network of stars and galaxies in place, just a few thousand million years after the Big Bang".
"We seem to have underestimated how quickly the early Universe matured into its present-day state," adds Piero Rosati of ESO, another member of the team. "The Universe did grow up fast!"
(Excerpt) Read more at eurekalert.org ...
We've always said the universe grew up fast. You guys just have no clue how fast.
I'm surmising from the responses on the thread that just about everyone who has chimed in believes in intelligent design (self included... cry out if I'm wrong about you)... it seems as though most Freepers do. I'd like to see a poll: Fundamentalist creation vs Evolution vs Intelligent design.
Think Jim Rob will let us?
*ping*
PING.
Thanks for the ping!
Translation: "We don't have a clue. We're making it up as we go along."
Probably would, I'm thinking the categories should be...
Young Earth Creationist
Old Earth Creationist
Old Earth Intelligent Design other than God
Old Earth Evolution with Intelligent Guidance
Old Earth Evolution strictly natural processes
By definition both Creationists are Intelligent Design.
Maybe the Universe has always existed and just undergoes periodic reorganizations to appease stockholders and hide book keeping irregularities?
Like these galaxies that are 9+ billion lightyears away and we are only seeing their light hit us right now? What a great clue for the universe being 6K years old.
*finger swirling around while pointing at the side of my head*
6 thousand years by whos count?
Yours or Gods?
Can you spell E N I G M A?
A perfect example of paradigm prejudice at work. Note how the direct observation is interpreted in light of the paradigm . The observation is: Wow, we underestimated how quickly the universe matured. It is not: Wow, we underestimated the age of the universe.
What is a God year? The whole notion is idiotic. I believe the universe is a little over 13.5 billion EARTH years old. does that put me at odds with the belief in God? Heck no.
Einstein demonstrated that one day is not one day everywhere in the universe. In fact, in order to say what "one day" is, you have to also specify your inertial reference frame, and unless you count Genesis, nobody has ever demonstrated what God's inertial reference frame is.
We detect particles on the surface of the Earth which based on a simple division of their speed and lab lifetime should never make it down here, but they do because as they're travelling near the speed of light, 200 milliseconds for them is much, much longer for us.
Likewise, 86,400 seconds marked out on a clock at the center of the sun would take longer than one day on Earth to elapse.
Exactly my point. My belief in what the universe is telling me does not put me at odds with my belief in God, as some creationist would force me to be.
"Grew up and,
and grew up mean."
Sue
"Grew up and,
and grew up mean."
Sue
FAST
...typing will do this.....
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