Space & Astronomy

Newly discovered galaxy sets distance record

By T.K. Randall
May 6, 2015

Image: Milky Way Galaxy Seen From Amphu Laptsa Base Camp
Credit: Pravin Mishra / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) Known as EGS-zs8-1, the galaxy was discovered by a team of astronomers from Yale University and the University of California.

Using a combination of data from the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes along with observations from the Keck I telescope in Hawaii, the scientists were able to confirm that the galaxy is further away than any other yet observed. It is so distant that the light we are seeing from it has taken over 13 billion years to reach us.

Because it existed so long ago EGS-zs8-1 appears to us now to be only around 100 million years old and is still forming stars very rapidly at around 80 times the speed of our own galaxy.Only a few galaxies from the earliest days of the universe have ever been conclusively identified and this one holds the record for being the most luminous in addition to being the furthest away.

Scientists hope the disovery will help shed light on how galaxies formed billions of years ago.

"Every confirmation adds another piece to the puzzle of how the first generations of galaxies formed in the early universe," said study co-author Pieter van Dokkum of Yale University.

"Only the largest telescopes are powerful enough to reach to these large distances."

Source: Earthsky.org

Tags: Galaxy