I do enjoy communicating with Clif. I emailed the following to him:
I didn’t read this, but the headline is fascinating…. and maybe all we need to know…
http://news.yahoo.com/farthest-known-galaxy-universe-discovered-201051161.html
To which he responded:
So there are three interesting things about this article:
1. The age of the universe is 13.7 billion years since the Big Bang. This galaxy is 13.3 billion years since the big bang.
2. The only reason we can see this galaxy is because of a gravitational lens effect of nearby galaxies theorized by Einstein. The lens magnifies the galaxy to the point we can see it.
3. As a young galaxy it’s quite a bit smaller than the Milky Way (600 light years across vs. 150,000 light years across)
Clif
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
The only thing I’d add for the layman is that age is the same as distance. It took the light from that galaxy 13.3 billion years to reach us so what we see actually happened 13.3 billion years ago.
Interesting.
It is such a privilege to have constant opportunities to challenge one’s intellect. This is a wondrous topic and one I have “used” many times in the past. When I have found myself in a conversation with a person who has put all the answers in a tidy little box..derived from a book..I have simply pointed to the night sky and said,”Really” ?