A team of astronomers from Yale University and the University of California have used the Hubble Space Telescope to shatter the cosmic distance record by spotting a galaxy 13.4 billion light years away. Galaxy GN-z11 formed only 400 million years after the Big Bang, so researchers are seeing what was taking place near the dawn of the universe.
The galaxy is 25 times smaller than our own galaxy, the Milky Way, but at the time, it was spewing out new stars 20 times faster than the Milky Way does today. Light from receding galaxies shifts toward the red end of the spectrum with the greater the shift, the more distant the galaxy. GN-z11is so hot, its true light is bright blue, however its light has traveled so far, it has shifted to dark red on the spectrum.
“We’ve taken a major step back into time, beyond what we ever expected to be able to do with Hubble,” said Pascal Oesch of Yale University. “We see GN-z11 at a time when the universe was only 3 percent of its current age.”
Hubble has been pushed to its practical limits, so any new discoveries will have to await the James Webb Space Telescope scheduled for launch in 2018.
Focus on the planets
Mercury will make its best appearance of the year in April. At the start of the month, Mercury shines low in the west as the evening twilight deepens, and by mid-month, it will be at its highest point remaining visible from about an hour after sunset until twilight ends.
Venus rises in the east only a half-hour before the sun and disappears from view after the first week of April.
Mars rises in the east around midnight as the month opens and by 10:00 p.m. at its close. Telescopes will reveal remnants of the north polar cap and a variety of surface markings.
Jupiter rises in the southeast as darkness falls and remains prominent throughout much of the night. Surface markings will be readily visible and its four major moons will continue their dance about and across the face of the planet. April 6 is noted as a particularly active night for watching the moons and their shadows.
Saturn follows Mars into the eastern sky a half-hour after the Red Planet where the two make a watchable pair all month. Saturn’s ring system is open to viewing by telescope as is its major moon Titan.
Neptune barely makes it above the eastern horizon late in the month and will be very difficult to spot, and Uranus is lost to view all month.
April events
1 Sunrise, 6:17 a.m.; sunset, 7:02 p.m.
2 Saturn rides high on the southern horizon an hour before sunrise with Mars just lower to its right. Antares completes a triangle being situated to the lower right of Saturn or the lower left of Mars.
7 New moon, 7:24 a.m. The moon also is at perigee or nearest approach to Earth today.
8 Mercury is to the lower right of the thin crescent moon on the western horizon shortly after sunset.
10 Aldebaran, the ‘red eye’ of the Bull is very near to the lower right of the moon at nightfall.
14 Moon in first quarter, 11:59 p.m.
17 Jupiter is situated very near to the upper right of the moon in the early evening.
18 The sun enters Aries on the ecliptic.
19 The sun enters the astrological sign of Taurus but astronomically has just entered Aries.
21 The moon is at apogee or farthest away from Earth today.
22 Full moon, 1:25 p.m. The full moon of April is variously known as the Pink Moon, Egg Moon or Grass Moon. This should be the peak night for the Lyrid meteor shower however the full moon will obscure all but a few of the very brightest.
25 The moon, Saturn and Mars form a triangle in the southern sky at dawn. Mars is below the moon while Saturn is just to the lunar left.
29 Moon in last quarter, 11:29 p.m.
30 Sunrise, 5:27 a.m.; sunset, 7:39 p.m.
Send astronomical queries to Clair Wood at cgmewood@aol.com or care of the Bangor Daily News, Features Desk, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, Maine 04402.