The oldest & farthest galaxy in the Universe

[Eldorado 64,436]

A team of astronomers used the Keck I telescope to measure the distance to an ancient galaxy. They deduced the target galaxy GN-z11 is not only the oldest galaxy but also the most distant. It’s so distant it defines the very boundary of the observable universe itself. The team hopes this study can shed light on a period of cosmological history when the universe was only a few hundred million years old.

“From previous studies, the galaxy GN-z11 seems to be the farthest detectable galaxy from us, at 13.4 billion light years, or 134 nonillion kilometers (that’s 134 followed by 30 zeros),” said Kashikawa. “But measuring and verifying such a distance is not an easy task.”

University of Tokyo

Keck telescopes

[Abramelin 7,220]

Many years ago I read a newspaper article about an interview/ conversation between a famous feminist (Fergusson?) and a male scientist. At some point this feminist told the scientist: "this whole Big Bang thing, it's such an obvious male chauvenistic thing!"

The scientist anwered: "Why? You think it all started with a headache instead??"

 

[Tom1200 1,776]

On 12/22/2020 at 11:29 PM, Eldorado said:

13.4 billion light years, or 134 nonillion kilometres

One lightyear is 9.46x10¹⁵ m.  So 13.4 billion lightyears is 127x10²⁴ m or 127x10²¹ km or 127 sextillion km.

No real scientist would have made such a mistake.  But that's because Professor Kashikawa, like the University of Tokyo, Japan and everything else outside the M25, is made up.  Like in the Truman Show, but in reverse.

[pallidin 11,207]

Interesting subject!!

[razman 1,153]

Kinda odd that they would say its the farthest away from us and the oldest known. If there was a big bang , then you would think that the oldest would be the farthest away from the big bang center. They kinda make it sound like the big bang started here . what if the big bang started closer to that galaxy they talk about ?

[Peter B 3,867]

On 1/10/2021 at 8:49 PM, Tom1200 said:

One lightyear is 9.46x10¹⁵ m.  So 13.4 billion lightyears is 127x10²⁴ m or 127x10²¹ km or 127 sextillion km.

No real scientist would have made such a mistake.  But that's because Professor Kashikawa, like the University of Tokyo, Japan and everything else outside the M25, is made up.  Like in the Truman Show, but in reverse.

??

Sorry, what?

ETA: As in, it took less than a minute to find the University of Tokyo and Professor Kashikawa. And anyway, there was a story about the galaxy on the Keck Telescope website too.

Edited January 13 by Peter B

[psyche101 46,484]

On 1/10/2021 at 7:49 PM, Tom1200 said:

One lightyear is 9.46x10¹⁵ m.  So 13.4 billion lightyears is 127x10²⁴ m or 127x10²¹ km or 127 sextillion km.

No real scientist would have made such a mistake.  But that's because Professor Kashikawa, like the University of Tokyo, Japan and everything else outside the M25, is made up.  Like in the Truman Show, but in reverse.

Check again.

They didn't make the mistake.

[Peter B 3,867]

On 1/11/2021 at 12:58 PM, razman said:

Kinda odd that they would say its the farthest away from us and the oldest known. If there was a big bang , then you would think that the oldest would be the farthest away from the big bang center. They kinda make it sound like the big bang started here . what if the big bang started closer to that galaxy they talk about ?

No, sorry, you're misunderstanding how we see the universe.

The speed of light is incredibly fast at 300,000 kilometres per second, but on the scale of the universe that still means that looking at far distant galaxies means looking far into the past.

When you look at the Moon, you see it as it was a little over a second ago, as that's how long it took light from the Moon to reach the Earth. When you look at the Sun (carefully), you see it as it was about 8 minutes ago. When you look at the next nearest star, you see it as it was 4 years ago, meaning it's four light years away. Light takes roughly 100,000 years to cross our Milky Way galaxy, meaning our galaxy is about 100,000 light years across.

The galaxy mentioned in the OP (GN-z11) is so distant that light took 13.4 billion years to reach us, meaning it's 13.4 billion light years away. That doesn't mean that galaxy is older that our galaxy, merely that it's a massively long way away from us and consequently we see it as it was 13.4 billion years ago, when the universe was a tiny fraction of the age it is now.

Our galaxy, like all galaxies, formed in the earliest period of the universe - it is therefore just as old as GN-z11, and 13.4 billion years ago our galaxy probably looked something like GN-z11. Since then it has grown as it's absorbed neighbouring galaxies, and formed into the barred spiral shape it has today. Looking at increasingly distant galaxies means looking increasingly into the past, which has allowed astronomers to effectively see how galaxies have changed over the age of the universe - distant (and therefore seen as from the earliest days of the universe) galaxies look noticeably different from nearby (and therefore seen as from more recent times in the universe) galaxies.

If you're still having a problem with the concept, think of it this way. Think of the kids in your Year 1 class at school, and how they all looked. Now consider where they might be today, some not far from where you live, some on the other side of the country, and some on the other side of the world. Now imagine if the way you saw your classmates depended on how far away from you they are today - those nearest you look the age they are now, but the further away they are from you the younger they look, while those on the other side of the world look exactly like they were in Year 1; it's not that they are younger if they're further away, merely that they look younger if they're further away.

It's the same with galaxies: all galaxies are roughly the same age, having formed in the early universe; but those furthest away are seen as they were in those earliest times while those which are nearest are seen as they currently are.

[Tom1200 1,776]

5 hours ago, Peter B said:

??  Sorry, what?  ETA: As in, it took less than a minute to find the University of Tokyo and Professor Kashikawa. And anyway, there was a story about the galaxy on the Keck Telescope website too.

Of course there's references on the internet - that's all part of the conspiracy!  But have you been to Tokyo to check for yourself?

The M25 is the edge of the visible Universe.  Japan is outside the M25.  Therefore it does not exist.  QED.

4 hours ago, psyche101 said:

Check again.  They didn't make the mistake.

Well SOMEONE did.  The OP quotes Professor Kash'n'Karri saying "13.4 billion light years, or 134 nonillion kilometers (that’s 134 followed by 30 zeros)" which is garbage, as I explained in post #4.  He has overstated the distance by a factor of 1000 million.  (That's analogous (in reverse) to measuring the distance from Earth to the Moon as 38.4 cm.)  So if you think you know better than me why don't you check your maths?

Subete no hito no heiwa to zen'i (kuraddingukingu o nozoku).

[psyche101 46,484]

34 minutes ago, Tom1200 said:

.Well SOMEONE did.  The OP quotes Professor Kash'n'Karri saying "13.4 billion light years, or 134 nonillion kilometers (that’s 134 followed by 30 zeros)" which is garbage, as I explained in post #4.  He has overstated the distance by a factor of 1000 million.  (That's analogous (in reverse) to measuring the distance from Earth to the Moon as 38.4 cm.)  So if you think you know better than me why don't you check your maths?

Subete no hito no heiwa to zen'i (kuraddingukingu o nozoku).

 

On 1/10/2021 at 7:49 PM, Tom1200 said:

One lightyear is 9.46x10¹⁵ m.  So 13.4 billion lightyears is 127x10²⁴ m or 127x10²¹ km or 127 sextillion km.

No real One lightyearscientist would have made such a mistake.  But that's because Professor Kashikawa, like the University of Tokyo, Japan and everything else outside the M25, is made up.  Like in the Truman Show, but in reverse.

Google is using the wrong "billion" In one lightyear, one trillion is considered as 9.46x10¹² m. 

9.46 trillion kilometres

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/en/

15 zeroes is one Quadrillion. Try with 12.

[Tom1200 1,776]

3 hours ago, psyche101 said:

Google is using the wrong "billion" In one lightyear, one trillion is considered as 9.46x10¹² m.   9.46 trillion kilometres  https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/en/ 

15 zeroes is one Quadrillion. Try with 12.

I don't know what it's got to do with Google.  I used a different search method, called education.  Here's the numbers: I think we all agree on this terminology?

• 1 million is 10⁶         or 1 000 000
• 1 billion is 10⁹          or 1 000 000 000
• 1 trillion is 10¹²        or 1 000 000 000 000
• 1 quadrillion is 10¹⁵  or 1 000 000 000 000 000
• 1 quintillion is 10¹⁸    or 1 000 000 000 000 000 000
• 1 sextillion is 10²¹    or 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000
• 1 septillion is 10²⁴    or 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000
• 1 octillion is 10²⁷      or 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000
• 1 nonillion is 10³⁰     or 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000
•  

The relevant section from the OP reads:

On 12/22/2020 at 11:29 PM, Eldorado said:

13.4 billion light years, or 134 nonillion kilometers (that’s 134 followed by 30 zeros)

One lightyear is the distance light travels in one Earth year.  That's 9.46x10¹⁵ m, which is 9.46x10¹² km.  (It's also 5.88x10¹² miles, which is just as irrelevant as km because the SI unit for distance is the metre.)

A galaxy 13.4 billion lightyears away is 13.4x10⁹ lightyears away.

Check the maths yourself: 13.4x10⁹ x 9.46x10¹⁵ = 1.27x10²⁶ m.  Which is 127x10²⁴ m.  Which is 127x10²¹ km.  (Which is what I said.  Why are people arguing with rudimentary arithmetic?)

Which is NOT 134 nonillion kilometers.  So it's NOT 134 followed by 30 zeros.  In fact it's NOT 134 anythings because 127 and 134 are NOT the same thing.

I said back in #4 no real scientist would make so basic a mistake.  Perhaps I was wrong, and Professor Kawasaki is real, and made that statement.  If so he got it very wrong.  QED.

Edited January 13 by Tom1200
I missed out quintillion! But that doesn't change the underlying fact that I am right and you are wrong.