Hubble Finds Hundreds of Young Galaxies

Blob · #1 (**permalink**) 21-September-2006, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Astronomers analysing two of the deepest views of the cosmos made with the Hubble Space Telescope have uncovered a gold mine of galaxies, more than 500 that existed less than a billion years after the Big Bang. This sample in the constellation Fornax represents the most comprehensive compilation of galaxies in the early universe, researchers said. The discovery is scientifically invaluable for understanding the origin of galaxies, considering that just a decade ago early galaxy formation was largely uncharted territory. Astronomers had not seen even one galaxy that existed when the universe was a billion years old, so finding 500 in a Hubble survey is a significant leap forward for cosmologists. This Hubble Space Telescope image shows 28 of the more than 500 young galaxies the researchers uncovered in their analysis of two Hubble surveys.

Position (J2000): R.A. 3h 32m 40s.0 Dec. -27° 48' 00"

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jimmarsen · #2 (**permalink**) 27-September-2006, 04:17 AM

It is interesting to recall a NASA press release from a year ago that seems to conflict with the current one:

NASA finds "Big Baby" Galaxies in Newborn Universe

It was about the discovery of a galaxy, HUDF-JD2, which was estimated to have a redshift of z ~ 6.5 putting it at a distance that "represents an era when the universe was only 800 million years old" with eight times more mass than the Milky Way and composed of stars that were "remarkably mature".

However, the following paper finds that the redshift of HUDF-JD2 is z ~ 2.2:

A systematic search for very massive galaxies at z > 4

antoniseb · #3 (**permalink**) 27-September-2006, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmarsen

It is interesting to recall a NASA press release from a year ago that seems to conflict with the current one

What makes you think that NASA is a clearinghouse that vetts all conclusions drawn from research done with tools they've launched?

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