A galaxy far, farther away

Richard Steinberg, Philadelphia, PA — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:40:09 GMT

The 11 billion and 7 billion light year distances are wrong. In the original article, the authors quoted 3.36 and 2.2 Mpc (million parsecs). These convert to 11.0 and 7.2 MILLION light years, respectively, not BILLION.

[ALAN ADDS: Thanks, Richard, it was a stupid typing mistake that I didn't catch. Thank heavens for sharp-eyed folks such as yourself. The reference has been corrected.]

A galaxy far, farther away

steve smyth — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:44:53 GMT

Hey...that's the most directly exciting piece of writing RE anything science ever.
Your enthusiasm for the subject jumps off the page, and exists right there in the ether for an instant.
Pretty friggin' good, Al.
No kiddin'...it floored me.

A galaxy far, farther away

unkown,pottstown.pa — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:23:05 GMT

somebody got this really wrong, should read millions instead of billions,
dub

[ALAN ADDS: That would be me (see above). I've made the fix, thanks for setting me straight.]

A galaxy far, farther away

Dave BC WA — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:45:26 GMT

Many years ago I came to the conclusion that the age of the universe was dependent on the power of the telescope. What I don’t understand is how we can still look at something like the galaxy NCG 1569 and come to conclusions that it’s forming new stars. How do we know it’s not just a star burst or whatever and will eventually fade away?

A galaxy far, farther away

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:34:35 GMT

Oh look..there's an alien face just upper left of center.

Galaxy formation is so very mindboggling...and to think that our science can't fully explain star formation and only relies on known apparent laws of physics. The idea of star formation happening over and over and on such a scale leaves me blank.

A galaxy far, farther away

Jose Valencia, College Point, NY — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:16:56 GMT

It is very funny how it is said that such galaxy is just 7 million light years away like if it were very close. Very mind blowing when you thing about the distances in the space. [...]

A galaxy far, farther away

steve smyth — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:55:43 GMT

millions/billions...you ain't goin' there...absorb the feelings, Dudes!
I'd like either of you to clearly explain the difference between a million light years and a billion light years...no big equations.
Is it like the diference between Boston to San Francisco and Boston to Singapore, or what?
C'mon...

[ALAN ADDS: It's a mere three orders of magnitude... Like the difference between driving from Harvard to MIT (1.88 miles) and driving from Harvard to Houston, Texas (1857 miles).]

A galaxy far, farther away

Duane A. Eckerman — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:34:41 GMT

Does this mean it's on the other side of where the Big Bang happened.....the other side of the "balloon"?

[ALAN ADDS: No, the "balloon" doesn't work quite that way. Here's are a couple of links that address that "where did the big bang happen" question:]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3077398/

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/01/17/33567.aspx

A galaxy far, farther away

David R Gayler, Tarragona, Spain — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:36:57 GMT

Excuse me while I boggle at the distances, but bearing in mind that the radius of the observable universe is about 14 billion light years, isn't 11 million light years actually almost next door? I would have cheerfully made your mistake too.

A galaxy far, farther away

Phil — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:47:52 GMT

[...] As far as I can tell, nothing much was discovered here except for a mis-measurement. NOT that I was going to figure it out... but 20 years to figure out that the Galaxy was further away than we thought and everything still makes sense?? Ouch... I guess some science can take a long time to perform!!

A galaxy far, farther away

John Steinauer, Raleigh, NC — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:35:31 GMT

Million or billion, it makes no difference to me. The astonishing beauty of this brings tears to my eyes and to see back in time, to see creation happen, is both humbling and awe inspiring. Thanks to everyone that works to study this and bring it to man to study or simply to wonder at and inspire.

A galaxy far, farther away

Darrell Messbarger — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:58:49 GMT

Is adequate time being given to each of the projects that require HST? Does this article intimate that the process by which project selections are made is somehow lacking? While I realize that the HST data will obviously surpass any ground based telescope's capabilities, what kind of problems does that reflect in our present understanding of the cosmos?

It would seem to me that if the astronomical community cannot rely on the data previously gathered, we should be looking at a change in protocols. How much time is being allocated to "re-doing" data acquisitions that should have been previously verified. The mapping of the universe is, to my way of thinking, foundational to all of astrophysics. How much associated data has been mishandled? We need to be getting less, more accurate data than the other way around.

A galaxy far, farther away

steve smyth — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:38:53 GMT

Thanks for the clarification Alan.
That creates some perspective...with gas prices down, maybe I'll take the ride to Houston and experience the time ratio/difference along the way.
It reminds me of the old 'if the Earth is an orange on the school desk, the basketball out in the playground is Jupiter'...worked for me.
Especially when told that the Sun would be further away and bigger in perspective than the Moon.
Amazingly, all the planets look very much like those little postage stamp sized pics along the border of 1950s texts...even with all the exploratory advancements.
Nothing new under the Sun, eh?
Off to Houston...the walk between Harvard and MIT is littered with most of my old favorite barrooms, so I believe that distance, and guarantee that the time really can become relative...depending on how many stops along the way.

A galaxy far, farther away

Troy Boyle, Erlanger, KY — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:53:02 GMT

So, if the Millenium Falcon completed the "Kessel Run" in under 12 parsecs (1 parsec = 3.2 light years, or 38.4 light years total), he only covered .00035% of the distance required to reach this "baby factory" of a galaxy!

A galaxy far, farther away

dolfina — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:11:57 GMT

For us religious types, it makes the scripture of John's revelation, "and I John, saw a New Heaven and a New Earth coming down, and the former things were no more"

A galaxy far, farther away

Eric, Salinas, CA — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:17:24 GMT

I love the way scientists keep lugging away at mysteries until they crack the case. I like the way they can use things like red giant stars to calculate the distance from Earth. Astronomy has come so far since I took Astronomy in college 30 years ago.

Galaxy formation and star birth are very interesting subjects. Those "New" stars we're seeing are really about 11 million years old and it will take another 11 million years before our descendants see if they're still making stars in that galaxy.

Thanks Alan for putting this article out and correcting your previous typo! Thanks also to the astute readers like Richard who are on the ball and noticed and reported the booboo.

A galaxy far, farther away

becka ship — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:17:21 GMT

thats awsome!!

A galaxy far, farther away

Dave F. - Peotone, IL — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:47:46 GMT

Very cool! It's amazing that with all that we DO know about the universe around us, there's always more to learn. And even something that is relatively so "close" to us as this galaxy, we STILL didn't know how far away it really was until this study.

What a great time to be around to see all this stuff. It's just too bad that most people don't even see the stars in the night sky due to light pollution.

A galaxy far, farther away

Tim Rommes, Washington, UT — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:11:44 GMT

ALAN ADDS: It's a mere three orders of magnitude... Like the difference between driving from Harvard to MIT (1.88 miles) and driving from Harvard to Houston, Texas (1857 miles).

Considering our current abilities I think it’s more like “Should I walk from Boston to St. Louis for lunch or from Boston to Mexico City?”

A galaxy far, farther away

Bob W. Put-in-Bay, OHIO, USA, Third Planet from the Sun — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:26:00 GMT

ALAN ADDS: It's a mere three orders of magnitude... Like the difference between driving from Harvard to MIT (1.88 miles) and driving from Harvard to Houston, Texas (1857 miles).

"Orders of magnitude", eh? If the difference between 1.8 miles and 1800 miles is "ONLY" three orders of magnitude, then consider the following:

How many "orders of magnitude" exist between the Annual Earnings of an "Investment Banker" or an "Auto Executive", compared to 1) an "average US Citizen", 2) a guy working at Mickey D's for minimum wage, or 3) the growing amount of people in unemployment lines??

I'm thinking it's somewhere between 5 and 10 orders of magnitude. So, how can the little guy jump over that many "orders of magnitude" to bail the big guys out?

I'm trying to bring the "vastness" of the Universe down to the size of something more familiar to us Earthlings, to help us "relate" to it, and try to understand it. I think I've failed.

But wait; "If I made enough money this year, to buy enough gas to travel between HARVARD and MIT, How many times would an Auto Executive or Wall Street Banker, be able to fly his private jet around the WORLD??

And, Who would be "younger" upon arrival at their destination. (If they didn't take any "relatives" along?)

Inner space... or Outer Space... which is the final Frontier?

A galaxy far, farther away

steve schlarbaum le sueur minnesota — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:27:07 GMT

my friends uncle dug a meteor that they watched fall in the 1960's, they dug it up an it is in there basement. It is one heavy rock!!!!!

A galaxy far, farther away

Dennis Cameron,Portage,La,Prairie,Manitoba,Canada — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:13:49 GMT

Hey,jus wanna say that astronmy sure catches my eye.I,ve been loggin on here for sometime now.I too ama star gazer.All this about galaxies,planets,stars,universes,never stops to amaze me.Good work to the people that put these news about astronmy to the public.I too have a lot of questions about space,etc.But for now will jus leave it here.Will be tuned in........dennis cameron

A galaxy far, farther away

Chuck Bridges, Mansfield, Massachusetts — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 17:01:53 GMT

I have perhaps a stupid question? If we have never reached one of these far away places then how can we be sure they are as far away as we even say they are?
I understand light years and how we see the stars from the past and that it takes say 10 light years for some places light to reach us but are we not guessing at the light years since we have no conformation that the object in question is what we say it is in distance, having never reached it.