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Record-Breaking Galaxy Cluster Found
The Bad Astronomer writes "Astronomers are reporting that they have detected the most distant cluster of galaxies ever seen: a mind-smashing 9.6 billion light years away, 400 million light years more distant than the previous record holder. The cluster, handily named SXDF-XCLJ0218-0510, was seen in infrared images by the giant Subaru telescope, and confirmed with spectroscopy and the X-ray detection of million-degree gas (a smoking gun of clusters). Every time astronomers push back the record for clusters, they learn more about the early conditions of the universe, so this cluster will provide insight into how the universe itself changed over the first few billion years after the Big Bang."
As science geekettes go, Dr. Hannelore Hämmerle is teh hawt!!!
I find it pretty hard to believe that we are that close to reaching the 'edge' of the universe. What will these materialists do when we discover a galaxy that is further away in light years than the universe is old? Either they will have to adjust the value for the age of the universe (as they normally do) or they will have to accept that the current method for determining age is flawed (i.e., that the universe appears older than it actually is).
Just be glad they didn't use the Toyota telescope otherwise it would still be going...
I don't assume that at all. It was precisely my point that materialists (methodological naturalists if you prefer) can only assume that, by definition. And, this is why the 'edge' is such a problem and why estimates of 'age' require continual adjustment for those with such philosophical assumptions.