The new record holder is the galaxy MACS0647-JD, which is about 13.3 billion light-years away. The universe itself is only 13.7 billion years old, so this galaxy’s light has been traveling toward us for almost the whole history of space and time.
Astronomers spotted the object using NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, with the aid of a naturally occurring cosmic zoom lens as well. This lens is a huge cluster of galaxies whose collective gravity warps space-time, producing what’s called a gravitational lens. As the distant galaxy’s light traveled through this lens on its way to Earth, it was magnified.
I constantly marvel at the size and age of our universe, and at our ability to record and increase our understanding of it. I recently read that there are hundreds of billions of galaxies, even perhaps a trillion!! It appears that there are many, many galaxies which we simply cannot see. This size may be intimidating to some, but it leaves me awestruck, and puts my petty problems in perspective. Not only that, I am a part of this vastness, and am comforted that there is something much, much bigger than myself going on of which I am a part, however small. It reminds me to constantly expand my vision of reality and resist the boxes our culture constantly tries to fit us in.
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