You are here.Scientists from CalTech have discovered the oldest galaxies ever. Using the Keck 2 telescope in Hawaii and with a little assist from gravitational lensing astronomers have found galaxies that predate the oldest observed galaxies by several hundred million years. They estimate the galaxies' age at just 500 million years past the Big Bang and compare the galaxies' masses at approximately 10 million solar masses compared to the 10 billion solar masses our own galaxy contains.
As a layperson, with no job or pressing responsibilities, I like to spend time thinking about these kind of things. The sheer magnitude of the numbers represented in the story are fun to think about, if you have most of the day to do it. I like to put it in perspective with respect to my own life. For example, Fairbanks is approximately 250 miles from where I live. I compare that to the distance of the Earth to the Sun, 93 million miles. Then I think about how that doesn't even compare to distances like the space to the next star. Extrapolate all that to galactic and inter-galactic spaces. It gets to be a little much and I didn't even get into the time and masses involved, just the distances. However, it is a fun way to spend the afternoon.
As a layperson, with no job or pressing responsibilities, I like to spend time thinking about these kind of things. The sheer magnitude of the numbers represented in the story are fun to think about, if you have most of the day to do it. I like to put it in perspective with respect to my own life. For example, Fairbanks is approximately 250 miles from where I live. I compare that to the distance of the Earth to the Sun, 93 million miles. Then I think about how that doesn't even compare to distances like the space to the next star. Extrapolate all that to galactic and inter-galactic spaces. It gets to be a little much and I didn't even get into the time and masses involved, just the distances. However, it is a fun way to spend the afternoon.
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