The universe was only 300 million years old when the galaxy GLASS-z13 was born.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Currently, not even a month has passed since the Space Telescope James Webb start making scientific observations. A group of researchers confirms that Webb has now caught oldest galaxy ever seen.
Reported from Earth Sky, tThese findings are revealed in a new report that is still undergoing peer review and published in arXiv on July 20, 2022. The universe was only 300 million years old when the galaxy, known as GLASS-z13, first appeared. Keep in mind that light has a constant speed. Therefore, when we observe objects from other parts of the universe, we return to a time when their light left them.
Light from distant galaxies is pushed toward the red end of the electromagnetic spectrum as it travels through billions of years of space and time. The letter “z” is denoted as the number of redshifts by scientists.
The most distant galaxy in our universe known before Webb is GN-z11 and HD1. The redshift factor or “z,” of the GN-z11, as the name suggests, is 11.
According to scientists, the galaxy was formed in the cosmos about 400 million years old. However, HD1 only held the record for a short time when it was discovered in April. Today, it appears that GLASS-z13 existed some 30 million years before HD1.
Galaxies old and small
Other distant galaxies are being examined by scientists besides GLASSz-13. Plus, they’re examining GLASSz-11, a contender to be one of the first galaxies we’ve ever seen. Compared to the galaxies we can see today, such as the Milky Way, these two galaxies are small in size.
The Milky Way has a diameter of about 100,000 light years. Meanwhile, GLASSz-13 and GLASSz-11 have diameters of 1,600 and 2,300 light years, respectively.
The Milky Way Galaxy has between 100 and 400 billion stars. When looking at GLASSz-13, researchers found GLASSz-11. In space, the two galaxies appear in the same direction.
