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As Hubble Breaks a Distance Record, We Learn Its True Limits

StartsWithABang writes: You might think that, when it comes to finding the most distant objects in the Universe, all we need is a good telescope, to leave the shutter open, and wait. As we accumulate more and more photons, we're bound to find the most distant, faint objects out there. Sure, Hubble just broke its own cosmic distance record, but it's certainly not the most distant. Thinking so misses an important fact: the Universe is expanding! And with that expansion, the wavelength of the light we can see gets redshifted. Ultraviolet light winds up in the infrared, infrared light winds up in the microwave, and the most distant galaxies that are out there are invisible, even to Hubble. Here are Hubble's limits, and how the James Webb Space Telescope will overcome them.

3 of 53 comments (clear)

  1. Enticing RSS by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1, Funny

    As often happens, my RSS feed display chopped off the end of the headline, and my overactive imagination supplied a much more interesting conclusion:

    As Hubble Breaks a Distance Record, We Learn Its True ...

    Purpose.

    It's a radio... for talking to God!

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    1. Re:Enticing RSS by Headw1nd · · Score: 4, Funny

      Unfortunately for us, the God in question turns out to be Azathoth.

    2. Re:Enticing RSS by AikonMGB · · Score: 1, Funny

      Purpose.

      It's a radio... for talking to God!

      What does God need with a radio?!