The dawn of time - after 13 billion years

[glenc]

The dawn of time - after 13 billion years in the darkroom
Richard Macey December 20, 2006

To a casual observer it could be the psychedelic creation of a mischievous puppy that has dipped its paws in paint. But it may be one of the most extraordinary pictures ever snapped.

It is, scientists said yesterday, the glow from the first things to form in the universe, more than 13 billion years ago. Snapped by NASA's Spitzer space telescope, the bizarre objects must have existed within a few hundred million years of the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago.

An Australian astrophysicist, Ray Norris, said the NASA team may have found "the holy grail" of astronomy...

Professor Norris conceded astronomers could not explain how such big objects formed so quickly after the Big Bang. "According to our models, it takes quite a while to build black holes and galaxies," he said.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/science/dawn-of-time--after-13-billion-years-in-the-darkroom/2006/12/19/1166290545385.html

[Dennis]

Thanks Glen - interesting research and reading for the Xmas hols!

Cheers

Dennis

[stephenmcnelley]

Everyone gets nostalgic about the olden days...lol

Love the definite statement that the SKA was Australia's.

Glen i will need to retire to properly go through all the interesting things you seem to find!

[xelasnave]

It is interesting they are finding objects larger than they expected to find working on the assumption that what they have captured is within 300 000 years of the start. I am unclear as to at what point to place this map in relation to inflation is it a before or after shot? an after shot I suspect??? Are objects or "blobs" on this map relatable to a "system" that exsists today.. a childhood shot of some familar current object like the local group for example.
alex

[Kal]

There is alot of scepticism from many astronomers apparently, who think that what you are seeing is light from objects much closer that wasn'e subtracted.

http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn10820-earliest-starlight-detection-disputed.html