NASA's Hubble telescope spies galaxies near Cosmic Dawn

Thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have gotten a look at seven galaxies that were created when the universe was very young.

Sharon Gaudin | Thursday, December 13 2012 | 3 Comments

Astronomers have gotten a look at seven galaxies that were created when the universe was just at its beginning.

NASA scientists reported Wednesday that the Hubble Space Telescope has found a previously unseen group of primitive galaxies that formed more than 13 billion years ago. That means the seven galaxies were formed when the universe was just 4% of its current age.

"Our study has taken the subject forward in two ways," said Richard Ellis, an astronomer with the California Institute of Technology. "First, we have used Hubble to make longer exposures. The added depth is essential to reliably probe the early period of cosmic history. Second, we have used Hubble's available color filters very effectively to more precisely measure galaxy distances."

The findings come from the deepest look into space that the Hubble Space Telescope has ever taken. Looking deeper into the universe means looking further back in time.

The universe is estimated to be 13.7 billion years old. Since light from the newly discovered galaxies has had to travel the vast distance to Earth, they are being seen as they looked 350 to 600 million years after the Big Bang.

The Big Bang Theory postulates that the universe was created when a tiny, super-dense mass exploded and began expanding, eventually cooling and forming stars and galaxies.

NASA noted that Hubble made its observations of these primitive galaxies during six weeks in August and September.

This latest data tells scientists that galaxies grew steadily over a period of time, supporting the theory that the first galaxies and stars formed gradually, instead of instantly, during a time called the "cosmic dawn."

The Hubble, launched into orbit on April 24, 1990, has become one of the greatest tools available for the world's astronomers. For example, it played a key role in discovering that the universe, driven by a mysterious force called dark energy, is expanding at an ever-accelerating rate.

Hubble also has been critical in helping scientists discover that most of the known galaxies in the universe contain massive black holes.

Three years ago, the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis fitted the Hubble telescope with two brand-new instruments, a new computer unit and several repaired instruments during a repair mission.

At the time, NASA scientists said that the telescope was more powerful than ever and more able to gaze toward the edge of the observable universe.

The work done in 2009 was expected to keep Hubble running through 2014, if not through 2016 or 2017.

3 Comments

wavettore Well, at first glance, I thought wavettore's analysis of the artical was gibberish. But then I read it carefully, and found out it really is gibberish. Who knew that Einstein was religious? I'm sure that would have come as a surprise to him...
Posted by Anonymous at 23:11:06 on December 13, 2012

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wavettore I was going to move his comment for being completely irrelevant, but I like your reply, so I think I'll keep it!
Posted by Siobhan Keogh, PCW at 11:13:01 on December 14, 2012

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Wavevolution 3 to close the circle
If wave equals energy and atom equals energy 2 of 3 equals makes them all equal. Like 3 names of the same One. This simple logic finds one remarkable resistance from science since the third equivalence has not yet been included. In spite of two findings from Einstein and Planck, one to show the equation between atoms and energy and the other to discover the constant between waves' frequencies and energy, traditional science has not yet closed the circle. Still today, this science does not recognize the transformation from waves to atoms. The bureaucracy of traditional science prevents the recognition of any event unless certain criteria are first met. The problem exists precisely in the compilation of these "laws" or criteria introduced by a few scientists in the name of all science. One new Progressive Science includes the transformation from waves to atoms and has new understanding of the relation between Space and Time. With the discovery of Wavevolution, Progressive Science and Religion are one and the same. Wavevolution reveals how the origin of all energy was first waves and then mass, how the behavior in waves and atoms is identical and how one same movement common to all energy is comparable to One Divine Will that creates the whole Universe. Nevertheless, since the time of Galileo, anytime a scientific finding has challenged one religious dogma, science has always had to yield before Religion. Often, the same scientists feel compelled to yield to Religion. One example was when Einstein became alienated by the concept of Quantum mechanics because he didn't want to accept a "World of probabilities" contrary to his Jewish Religion. This happened even after a discovery that had finally revealed the key to comprehend the Universe.
It would seem that Religious scientists are those less likely to find that objectivity needed to recognize the origin of the Universe. In fact, modern scientists have introduced new theories, but, like also in the past for Einstein, the promoters of Standard Model (Sheldon Lee Glashow and Steven Weinberg) and String Theory (Leonard Susskind) are Jewish scientists strongly supported by the media which popularize their theories even if they are both inconclusive when attempting to explain how the Universe could have been created from those conditions. In their theories, these scientists are trying to explain the Creation with particles of atomic mass already existing at the time of the Big Bang, as Einstein sustained (and adding only to more confusion). Instead, energy in form of atoms did not exist under the heat and pressure at the time of the Big Bang. The Universe began with energy in form of waves and without atoms. In no other way could the Creation be explained.
http://www.wikinfo.org/Multilingual/index.php/Wavevolution
http://www.wavevolution.org/en/index.html

Posted by wavettore at 17:26:49 on December 13, 2012

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