Clearing the cosmic fog: The most distant galaxy ever measured (w/ Video)
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 - 12:31
in Astronomy & Space
(PhysOrg.com) -- A European team of astronomers using ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) has measured the distance to the most remote galaxy so far. By carefully analysing the very faint glow of the galaxy they have found that they are seeing it when the Universe was only about 600 million years old (a redshift of 8.6). These are the first confirmed observations of a galaxy whose light is clearing the opaque hydrogen fog that filled the cosmos at this early time. The results will be presented at an online press conference with the scientists on 19 October 2010, and will appear in the 21 October issue of the journal Nature.