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EGS-zs8-1

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by ThaddeusB (talk | contribs) at 01:27, 7 May 2015 (expand from NYTimes & Phys.org). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

EGS-zs8-1 is a light blue colored galaxy located in the Boötes constellation. At an estimated distance of 13.1 billion light-years, the light from the galaxy is the oldest and most distant observed object in the universe.[1] The color is due to rapid formation of very large star interacting with the interacted with the primordial gas on the early universe.[2] According to standard estimates, the galaxy would now be about 30 billion light years from Earth.[3] It is estimated to have been created just 670 million years after the Big Bang. The light currently reaching the Earth is estimated to have been emitted when EGS-zs8-1 was about 100 million years old. The galaxy is larger than other galaxies created in the early history of the universe.[1] Its mass at the time the light was emitted is estimated to have been about 15% of the Milky Way's current mass. The galaxy was making new stars at roughly 80 times the rate of the current Milky Way.[3]

The age of EGS-zs8-1 places during the reionization phase of creation, a time when hydrogen outside the galaxies was switching from a neutral to ionized state. According the the galaxies discoverers, EGS-zs8-1 and other early galaxies were likely the driving force behind this change.[2]

In 2013, Yale astronomer Pascal Oesch spotted an unexpected bright object while looking at Hubble Space Telescope images. He then confirmed the existence of the object using the Spitzer space telescope.[1] Redshift calculations using the Multi-Object Spectrometer for Infrared Exploration (MOSFIRE) equipment at the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii were then performed to precisely determine the age of the galaxy.[2] Oesch and his colleagues at Yale and the University of California Santa Cruz announced the find, which was named EGS-zs8-1, in May 2015. It beat the previous record for oldest galaxy by about 30 million years.[1]

Further reading

  • "A Spectroscopic Redshift Measurement for a Luminous Lyman Break Galaxy at z=7.730 using Keck/MOSFIRE". ArXiv. 3 May 2015. arXiv:1502.05399. Retrieved 6 May 2015. {{cite journal}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |authors= (help)

References

  1. ^ a b c d Borenstein, Seth (5 May 2015). "Astronomers find farthest galaxy: 13.1 billion light-years". AP News. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Staff (5 May 2015). "Astronomers unveil the farthest galaxy". Phys.org. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  3. ^ a b Overbye, Dennis (5 May 2015). "Astronomers Measure Distance to Farthest Galaxy Yet". New York Times. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
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