Most Distant Galaxy Cluster Revealed by Invisible Light

ScienceDaily (May 10, 2010) — An international team of astronomers from Germany and Japan has discovered the most distant cluster of galaxies known so far -- 9.6 billion light years away. The X-ray and infrared observations showed that the cluster hosts predominantly old, massive galaxies, demonstrating that the galaxies formed when the universe was still very young. These and similar observations therefore provide new information not only about early galaxy evolution but also about history of the universe as a whole.

Clusters of galaxies are the largest building blocks in the universe. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is part of the Virgo cluster, comprising some 1000-2000 galaxies. By observing galaxies and clusters that are very distant from Earth, astronomers can look back in time, as their light was sent out a long time ago and took millions or billions of light-years to reach the astronomers' telescopes.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c90f94a429dc.jpg[/atsimg]
This false colour image is 3.4 arcmin on a side (about 1/10 the size of the moon). The arrows indicate galaxies that are likely located at the same distance, clustered around the centre of the image. The contours indicate the X-ray emission of the cluster. Galaxies with confirmed distance measurements of 9.6 billion light years are circled. The combination of the X-ray detection and the collection of massive galaxies unequivocally proves a real, gravitationally bound cluster. (Credit: Image courtesy of Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics)

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wow this is pretty cool, i love looking into deep space. so many thoughts about the makings of the universe.

before anyone else says this, light years is a measurment of distance not time...sorry.

Beautiful!

Thank you for the info.

Its just so...damn...big.

Man it just bottles the mind, like my mind is all trapped in a bottle.

Keep up the good work.

What really blows my mind is if we try to conceptulize Quantum Physics and the theory of Multiple Universes. The possiblities are endless to the amount of universes that would exist at one given instant of time.

Do you mean like the same cluster as I have posted in this thread ?

Thousends of new galaxies discovered in a new photo.

No it's a different one. You should look at the picture in it it's beautiful.
Pretty cool post ( yours I mean ) S & F.
9.6 Billion years.

reply to post by Crossfate


Ya know, it kinda irks me when discussion of old hot galaxies is made and no one points out that many, by now, are probably much like our own with similar stars and planets, distance be damned.