Infant galaxies merge near 'cosmic dawn'
Infant galaxies merge near 'cosmic dawn'
Posted November 22, 2013 - 02:45 by TG Daily Staff
Astronomers using the combined power of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope in Chile and NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes have discovered a far-flung trio of primitive galaxies nestled inside an enormous blob of primordial gas nearly 13 billion light-years from Earth. It's possible the trio will eventually merge into a single galaxy similar to our own Milky Way.
"This exceedingly rare triple system, seen when the universe was only 800 million years old, provides important insights into the earliest stages of galaxy formation during a period known as 'cosmic dawn,' when the universe was first bathed in starlight,” said Richard Ellis of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, a member of the research team.
Researchers first detected this object, which appeared to be a giant bubble of hot, ionized gas, in 2009. Dubbed Himiko (after a legendary queen of ancient Japan), it is nearly 10 times larger than typical galaxies of that era and comparable in size to our own Milky Way. Subsequent infrared observations with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope provided more clues about the object's mass, suggesting Himiko might represent a single galaxy, which would make it uncharacteristically massive for that period of the early universe.
More:
http://www.tgdaily.com/space-features/82002-infant-galaxies-merge-near-cosmic-dawn#RQ0rQR3fIhKrVRMK.99
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If such a galaxy is some 20 billion light years away and supposedly represents the universe at a young 800 million years, which has been traveling away from the big bang (at unknown speed), and our galaxy is probably not in the center of the universe, why has it take this long for the light to get here? Shouldn't it have started here, or relatively near here if the universe was only 800 million years old and therefore (at max speed of light) be 800(x2) million light years wide? Seems like proof light speed is not the fastest speed or the universe is much older and bigger or something.
