Consider that Edwin Hubble who observed and measured that every galaxy was effectively moving away from each other and that the farther the object the faster the movement. He deduced from these observations and calculated the universe must be expanding. Then he extrapolated backwards and theorized the universe must have experienced a Big-Bang about 15billion years ago. So the universe is about 15 billion years old. (Creationists, please refrain from commenting.)
Consider that Albert Einstein theorized the speed of light is constant and space-time was dependant upon the other. (It's been proven experimentally.)
That 10-day old exposure photogragh was estimated/calculated those galaxies are as they appeared 13billion years ago. In other words, when the universe was only 2 billion years old. Remember, when we look at the Sun, its appearance is what it was 8 minutes ago.
So 13 billion years ago, the universe was much smaller than it is today. Thirteen billion years ago, the point in space we are located today would be much closer to those galaxies in that photo.
So the question is, why did it take light from these galaxies 13 billion years to reach us when they were only 2 billion years away?
2007-08-12
05:27:39
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14 answers
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asked by
daffyd
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in
Astronomy & Space