Ultra-Dense Galaxies In the Early Universe

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 29, 2008 @08:35AM from the it's-little-it's-lovely-it-lights dept.

Science Daily is reporting on the characterization of a population of ancient galaxies, formed less than 3 billion years after the Big Bang, that are as massive as some modern galaxies but are only 1/20 the size. Each of the 9 compact galaxies found is less than 5,000 light-years across, and could fit comfortably inside the Milky Way's central hub (if you moved the supermassive black hole out first). The stars in these galaxies were 1/2 to 1 billion years old when observed and at least one generation of massive stars had already exploded as supernovae.

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Just out of curiosity - how far away are they? by mmell · 2008-04-29 08:51 · Score: 4, Interesting

Or - to put it more bluntly - how long ago did they look like that?
If they're over thirteen million light-years distant, they might represent a tantalizing glimpse into the physics of galaxy formation shortly after the Big Bang - the presence of heavier-than-helium elements indicates that at least one round of (superheavy) star formation/destruction has taken place, but they could still be relatively good examples of galactic physics in the (then neonatal) Universe.