universe is 20 billion years old?
2007-03-18 01:09:26 · 8 answers · asked by mandebarrett 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
good question, i will go into meditation and find the answer
2007-03-18 01:12:23 · answer #1 · answered by Craig C 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All it means is that the universe is more than 10 million years old. You cannot tell just from this how long after the big band the quasars formed but you do know that 10 billion years ago there were at least quasars in the universe. The fact that you can see quasars in opposite sides of the sky does not mean the universe is 20 billion years old. The time taken for light to travel from the 'quasar on your left' to the 'quasar on your right' is not a factor in the question. It is not something you are measuring here.
2007-03-18 01:19:45 · answer #2 · answered by Vinay K 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not really. The point is that the *observable* universe is 12.7 billion years old. That you see an object as it was 10 billion years ago does not mean that it is now 10 billion years older, as the flow of time is a function of relative speed, according to the theory of relativity. That quasar has not aged 10 billion years since light left it, in our frame of reference.
And, in turn, implies that the only thing that we can quote is how old the universe seems to us.
2007-03-18 01:17:52 · answer #3 · answered by Vincent G 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The quasar didn't look like that in the first place.
It had to travel to where it is and some time on the way evolve to what it looks like to us.
It it was calculated to be 10 billion light years away you could assume the universe was more than double that age.
There are reasons to believe that the universe is much younger.
The end stage of an evolving,finite universe may exhibit behavior that could be grossly misinterpreted
I think we are just going to have to wait and see.
2007-03-18 01:23:34 · answer #4 · answered by Billy Butthead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, it means that the phenomena of Quasars could occur in the young universe 10 billion years ago, and not at any time later.
2007-03-18 03:41:16 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You cannot say that, but it is a nice thought if you were to actually think that you are actually looking into the past since what you see now in the night sky happened about 10 billion years ago...
2007-03-18 01:14:39 · answer #6 · answered by mstq 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no just that quasar you are looking at. Others could be older.
there could have been older stars. who's light stopped reaching the earth long before the invention of the telescope.
2007-03-18 01:14:55 · answer #7 · answered by steven m 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
not necessarily.
it depends on how far apart they were from us at the beginning and it may mean that the universe may be older than that.
God bless,
gabe
2007-03-18 02:12:10 · answer #8 · answered by gabegm1 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋