The discovery of the oldest galaxy, which seems to be about 13.5 billion years ago, was announced by an international research group in which the University of Tokyo participates, and it will be an important clue to know the early appearance of the universe 300 million years after its birth. It is attracting attention.
International research groups such as the University of Tokyo and Harvard University in the United States have announced that they have discovered a galaxy in space about 13.5 billion light-years away from Earth.
It is believed to be about 13.5 billion years old, about 300 million years after the birth of the universe, about 100 million light-years farther than the farthest galaxies found so far, and is the oldest galaxy ever.
The galaxy is relatively bright, and it seems that we are observing the situation where more than 100 stars are being born at a fast pace in a year.
It is also noted that there may be a huge black hole in the center of this galaxy, which weighs about 100 million times as much as the Sun, and is an important clue to the early appearance of the universe.
Yuichi Harikin, an assistant professor at the University of Tokyo, an international research group, said, "I had goose bumps when I discovered it. This galaxy may contain a group of stars that were first born in space, called the first generation. I would like to identify the age of this galaxy and make more detailed observations. "
What is the significance of the oldest galaxy observation?
The international research group has succeeded in observing in the direction of "Sextans" using the "Subaru Telescope".
The galaxy discovered this time appears in red in the image observed with infrared rays.
The estimated redshift, which is an indicator of distance using the feature that the farther the celestial body looks red because the universe is expanding, is 13.3, which is the largest value ever.
Since observing the distant universe means seeing the universe of the past, astronomers around the world have used high-performance telescopes to observe the distant universe.
However, it is expected that the limit of observation with the current telescope is about 13.5 billion light-years.
Therefore, the United States is expected to launch a new space telescope called the James Webb Space Telescope last year as a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, and will challenge observations that exceed the current limits.
The research group is a candidate for a galaxy 13.5 billion light-years away, and it is already planned to be observed by the James Webb Space Telescope.
Assistant Professor Harikin says, "I think we can ultimately understand where we came from, how we were born, and what will happen in the future."