Hubble Finds Candidate for Most Distant Galaxy Yet Known

[bystander]

Hubble Helps Find Candidate for Most Distant Galaxy Yet Known
ESA/HEIC | NASA/STScI | Hubble | Spitzer | 2012 Nov 15

[url=http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1217a/][i][b]Hubble spots candidate for most distant known galaxy[/b][/i][/url] [b][i]Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Postman and D. Coe (STScI), and the CLASH team[/i][/b]

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[url=http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1217b/][b][i]Hubble spots three magnified views of most distant known galaxy[/i][/b][/url] [b][i]Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Postman and D. Coe (STScI), and the CLASH team[/i][/b]

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By combining the power of NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes and one of nature's own natural "zoom lenses" in space, astronomers have set a new record for finding the most distant galaxy seen in the universe.

The farthest galaxy appears as a diminutive blob that is only a tiny fraction of the size of our Milky Way galaxy. But it offers a peek back into a time when the universe was 3 percent of its present age of 13.7 billion years. The newly discovered galaxy, named MACS0647-JD, was observed 420 million years after the big bang, the theorized beginning of the universe. Its light has traveled 13.3 billion years to reach Earth.

This find is the latest discovery from a program that uses natural zoom lenses to reveal distant galaxies in the early universe. The Cluster Lensing And Supernova Survey with Hubble (CLASH), an international group led by Marc Postman of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md., is using massive galaxy clusters as cosmic telescopes to magnify distant galaxies behind them. This effect is called gravitational lensing.

Along the way, 8 billion years into its journey, light from MACS0647-JD took a detour along multiple paths around the massive galaxy cluster MACS J0647+7015. Without the cluster's magnification powers, astronomers would not have seen this remote galaxy. Because of gravitational lensing, the CLASH research team was able to observe three magnified images of MACS0647-JD with the Hubble telescope. The cluster's gravity boosted the light from the faraway galaxy, making the images appear about eight, seven, and two times brighter than they otherwise would that enabled astronomers to detect the galaxy more efficiently and with greater confidence.

"This cluster does what no manmade telescope can do," said Postman. "Without the magnification, it would require a Herculean effort to observe this galaxy."

MACS0647-JD is so small it may be in the first steps of forming a larger galaxy. An analysis shows the galaxy is less than 600 light-years wide. Based on observations of somewhat closer galaxies, astronomers estimate that a typical galaxy of a similar age should be about 2,000 light-years wide. For comparison, the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy companion to the Milky Way, is 14,000 light-years wide. Our Milky Way is 150,000 light-years across.

"This object may be one of many building blocks of a galaxy," said the study's lead author, Dan Coe of the Space Telescope Science Institute. "Over the next 13 billion years, it may have dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of merging events with other galaxies and galaxy fragments."

The galaxy was observed with 17 filters, spanning near-ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelengths, using Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Coe, a CLASH team member, discovered the galaxy in February while poring over a catalogue of thousands of gravitationally lensed objects found in Hubble observations of 17 clusters in the CLASH survey. But the galaxy appeared only in the two reddest filters.

"So either MACS0647-JD is a very red object, only shining at red wavelengths, or it is extremely distant and its light has been 'redshifted' to these wavelengths, or some combination of the two," Coe said. "We considered this full range of possibilities."

The CLASH team identified multiple images of eight galaxies lensed by the galaxy cluster. Their positions allowed the team to produce a map of the cluster's mass, which is primarily composed of dark matter. Dark matter is an invisible form of matter that makes up the bulk of the universe's mass. "It's like a big puzzle," said Coe. "We have to arrange the mass in the cluster so that it deflects the light of each galaxy to the positions observed." The team's analysis revealed that the cluster's mass distribution produced three lensed images of MACS0647-JD at the positions and relative brightness observed in the Hubble image.

Coe and his collaborators spent months systematically ruling out these other alternative explanations for the object's identity, including red stars, brown dwarfs, and red (old or dusty) galaxies at intermediate distances from Earth. They concluded that a very distant galaxy was the correct explanation.

The paper will appear in the Dec. 20 issue of The Astrophysical Journal.

Redshift is a consequence of the expansion of space over cosmic time. Astronomers study the distant universe in near-infrared light because the expansion of space stretches ultraviolet and visible light from galaxies into infrared wavelengths. Coe estimates MACS0647-JD has a redshift of 11, the highest yet observed.

Images of the galaxy at longer wavelengths obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope played a key role in the analysis. If the object were intrinsically red, it would appear bright in the Spitzer images. Instead, the galaxy barely was detected, if at all, indicating its great distance. The research team plans to use Spitzer to obtain deeper observations of the galaxy, which should yield confident detections as well as estimates of the object's age and dust content.

MACS0647-JD galaxy, however, may be too far away for any current telescope to confirm the distance based on spectroscopy, which spreads out an object's light into thousands of colors. Nevertheless, Coe is confident the fledgling galaxy is the new distance champion based on its unique colors and the research team's extensive analysis. "All three of the lensed galaxy images match fairly well and are in positions you would expect for a galaxy at that remote distance when you look at the predictions from our best lens models for this cluster," Coe said.

The new distance champion is the second remote galaxy uncovered in the CLASH survey, a multi-wavelength census of 25 hefty galaxy clusters with Hubble's ACS and WFC3. Earlier this year, the CLASH team announced the discovery of a galaxy that existed when the universe was 490 million years old, 70 million years later than the new record-breaking galaxy. So far, the survey has completed observations for 20 of the 25 clusters.

The team hopes to use Hubble to search for more dwarf galaxies at these early epochs. If these infant galaxies are numerous, then they could have provided the energy to burn off the fog of hydrogen that blanketed the universe, a process called re-ionization. Re-ionization ultimately made the universe transparent to light.

CLASH: Three Strongly Lensed Images of a Candidate z≈11 Galaxy - Dan Coe et al

• Astrophysical Journal (in press 2012 Dec 20) (pdf)

Most-distant galaxy candidate found
Carnegie Institution for Science | 2012 Nov 15

Now Even Further: Ancient Galaxy is Latest Candidate for Most Distant
Universe Today | Nancy Atkinson | 2012 Nov 15

Is This the Most Distant Object Ever Seen?
Slate Blogs | Bad Astronomy | 2012 Nov 16

[orin stepanek]

Reminds me of Star Wars!>>> A galaxy far far away!

[neufer]

<<Hairless Joe and Lonesome Polecat: The proud purveyors of "Kickapoo Joy Juice" — a moonshine elixir of such stupefying potency that the fumes alone have been known to melt the rivets off battleships. Concocted in a large wooden vat by the inseparable cave-dwelling buddies Lonesome Polecat (he of the Fried Dog Indian tribe, later known as the Polecats, "the one tribe who have never been conquered,") and Hairless Joe (a hirsute, club-wielding, modern Cro-Magnon — who frequently made good on his oft-repeated threat, "Ah'll bash yore haid in!") The ingredients of the brew are both mysterious and all-encompassing, (much like the contents of their cave, which has been known to harbor prehistoric monsters.) When a batch "needs more body," the formidable pair simply goes out and clubs one (often a moose), and tosses it in. Over the years, the "recipe" has called for live grizzly bears, panthers, kerosene, horseshoes and anvils, among other ingredients. Lonesome Polecat was also the official team mascot of the Sioux City Soos (1940–1960), a former Minor League baseball franchise of Sioux City, Iowa.>>

Hubble Helps Find Candidate for Most Distant Galaxy Yet Known
ESA/HEIC | NASA/STScI | Hubble | Spitzer | 2012 Nov 15

The farthest galaxy appears as a diminutive blob that is only a tiny fraction of the size of our Milky Way galaxy. But it offers a peek back into a time when the universe was 3 percent of its present age of 13.7 billion years. The newly discovered galaxy, named MACS0647-JD, was observed 420 million years after the big bang, the theorized beginning of the universe. MACS0647-JD is so small it may be in the first steps of forming a larger galaxy. An analysis shows the galaxy is less than 600 light-years wide.

The galaxy was observed with 17 filters, spanning near-ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelengths, using Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Coe, a CLASH team member, discovered the galaxy in February while poring over a catalogue of thousands of gravitationally lensed [by Hairless Joe?] objects found in Hubble observations of 17 clusters in the CLASH survey. But the galaxy appeared only in the two reddest filters. "So either MACS0647-JD is a very red object, only shining at red wavelengths, or it is extremely distant and its light has been 'redshifted' to these wavelengths, or some combination of the two," Coe said.

Coe and his collaborators spent months systematically ruling out these other alternative explanations for the object's identity, including red stars, brown dwarfs, and red (old or dusty) galaxies at intermediate distances from Earth. They concluded that a very distant galaxy was the correct explanation. Redshift is a consequence of the expansion of space over cosmic time. Astronomers study the distant universe in near-infrared light because the expansion of space stretches ultraviolet and visible light from galaxies into infrared wavelengths. Coe estimates MACS0647-JD has a redshift of 11, the highest yet observed.

The team hopes to use Hubble to search for more dwarf galaxies at these early epochs. If these infant galaxies are numerous, then they could have provided the energy to burn off the fog of hydrogen that blanketed the universe, a process called re-ionization. Re-ionization ultimately made the universe transparent to light.

[BMAONE23]

http://www.space.com/18502-farthest-gal ... hotos.html
There is a Video Zoom in imbedded in this Space.com story that shows 2 familier constellations, Ursa Major (The Great Bear) and Ursa Minor (The Little Bear) I had only just noticed something that I hadn't before realized about these 2 constellations. In both cases, the handles of the dippers are depicted as the tails of these 2 great animals. see 8 seconds into the video

Since when did Bears ever have long tails?

[bystander]

Reminds me of Star Wars!>>> A galaxy far far away!

A Galaxy Far, Far Away is Furthest in Universe
Clara Moskowitz, SPACE.com | via Discovery News | 2012 Nov 16

[Ann]

http://www.space.com/18502-farthest-gal ... hotos.html
There is a Video Zoom in imbedded in this Space.com story that shows 2 familier constellations, Ursa Major (The Great Bear) and Ursa Minor (The Little Bear) I had only just noticed something that I hadn't before realized about these 2 constellations. In both cases, the handles of the dippers are depicted as the tails of these 2 great animals. see 8 seconds into the video

Since when did Bears ever have long tails?

Well... they don't.

But since antiquity, the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper have been associated (by people in central and southern Europe) with the wild animals of the north, the bears. And since bears may not have been generally know by the people in Greece and Rome, they may just have assumed that these fearsome northern beasts have tails. After all, tails were required so that the shapes of the bears would fit the outlines of the constellations!

Ann

[BMAONE23]

Looking at the images of the superimposed animals I think they should be Badgers instead of Bears

[neufer]

There is a Video Zoom in imbedded in this Space.com story that shows 2 familier constellations, Ursa Major (The Great Bear) and Ursa Minor (The Little Bear) I had only just noticed something that I hadn't before realized about these 2 constellations. In both cases, the handles of the dippers are depicted as the tails of these 2 great animals. see 8 seconds into the video

Since when did Bears ever have long tails?

Well... they don't. But since antiquity, the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper have been associated (by people in central and southern Europe) with the wild animals of the north, the bears. And since bears may not have been generally know by the people in Greece and Rome, they may just have assumed that these fearsome northern beasts have tails. After all, tails were required so that the shapes of the bears would fit the outlines of the constellations!

[b][color=#0000FF]H. A. Rey's Ursa Major[/color][/b]

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<<In European star charts, the constellation was visualized with the 'square' of the Big Dipper forming the bear's body and the chain of stars as a long tail. However, bears do not have long tails, and Jewish astronomers considered Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid instead to be either three cubs following their mother, and the Native Americans as three hunters.

Noted children's book author H. A. Rey, in his 1952 book The Stars: A New Way to See Them, (ISBN 0-395-24830-2) instead had the "bear" image of the constellation, much as Johannes Hevelius had done (as far as the figure of the bear facing "left"), oriented with Alkaid as the tip of the bear's nose, and the "handle" of the Big Dipper part of the constellation forming the outline of the top of the bear's head and neck, rearwards to the shoulder. Because of Rey's book, many amateur astronomers have come to accept Rey's star chart interpretation of Ursa Major, dropping the idea of the Big Dipper's "handle" as being the hind end of the bear, with a non-natural "tail" extending rearwards.>>

<<The legend of How the Bear Lost Its Tail is one of many traditional Haudenosaunee stories told from generation to generation.

In the beginning, bear had a long, bushy tail of which he was quite proud. Bear loved to show off his tail to all the other animals, including fox. Now fox loved to play tricks, and one day decided to have some fun at bear’s expense. It was winter, and the lake had frozen. Fox knew the path bear took by the lake and decided to lure bear with some fish. Fox cut a hole in the ice and stacked many fish next to it. Fox knew bear loved to eat fish, but so did fox. Fox didn’t want bear to fish in this spot, fearing bear would eat all the fish up. When bear saw all the fish he was excited. He asked fox to teach him how to catch so many fish. Bear swore he would do everything fox told him, so fox agreed. Fox took bear to another spot in the lake and cut a hole in the ice. Fox turned to bear and told him he must put his bushy tail into the water to catch the fish. Fox told bear he must sit very still. Fox warned bear that bear should not think of anything because fish can read thoughts. Fox went off into the bushes, and said he would tell bear when to pull his tail out of the water. Bear did as he was told. He did not move, and he did not think. Fox watched bear sitting so still and laughed and laughed, rolling upon the ground. But, soon fox grew tired and went home.

The next morning, fox went back to the lake, wondering if bear had gone home. It had snowed during the night. When fox approached the lake he saw a mound on the ice covered with snow. The mound was bear, who had fallen asleep. Fox burst out laughing. Quietly, fox crept up to bear, and began to shout: “Now bear! Now! Pull your tail up now!’ Hearing the commands, bear woke up and immediately tried to pull his tail out of the water. As he pulled, a loud snap was heard. Bear turned to look, thinking he had caught a lot of fish. But there were no fish. Bear’s beautiful tail had frozen in the water and broken off when he tried to pull it out. Groaning, bear yelled at fox. Bear was angry because he lost his tail through fox’s trick. Bear swore he would get even with fox. Fox just laughed and laughed at bear and his missing tail. Bear became more angry and leapt at fox. But, fox was too fast and ran away laughing. To this day, bear continues to have a short tail, and still does not like fox. Sometimes in the woods a bear’s groaning can be heard. Bear groans because he is remembering the trick fox played long ago and continues to mourn the loss of his beautiful tail.>>

[BMAONE23]

What do you get when you cross a Bear with a Fox?
Obviously what the Dippers really are

Closest thing to a bear with a tail I could find

[neufer]

What do you get when you cross a Bear with a Fox?
Obviously what the Dippers really are

Pandering: <<Pandarus is a Trojan aristocrat who appears in stories about the Trojan War. In Homer's Iliad he is portrayed as an energetic and impetuous warrior, but in medieval literature he becomes a witty and licentious figure who facilitates the affair between Troilus and Cressida. The plot function of Pandarus in Chaucer's and especially Shakespeare's famous works has given rise to the English term to pander, meaning to further other people's illicit amours, and a pander (in later usage a panderer), a person who does this. The strong pejorative connotations of pander apparently come less from Chaucer's well-meaning young Pandarus than from Shakespeare's cynical uncle figure who concludes the play's epilogue by wishing upon the audience all his many diseases. A panderer is, specifically, a bawd — a male who arranges access to female sexual favors, the manager of prostitutes. Thus, in law, the charge of pandering is an accusation that an individual has sold the sexual services of another. The verb "to pander" is also used in a more general sense to suggest active or implicit encouragement of someone's weaknesses.>>

[BMAONE23]

So then, is it better to have pandered in lust than never to have pandered at all?

Or would it be better to Pander Bare

[Ann]

<<The legend of How the Bear Lost Its Tail is one of many traditional Haudenosaunee stories told from generation to generation.

In the beginning, bear had a long, bushy tail of which he was quite proud. Bear loved to show off his tail to all the other animals, including fox. Now fox loved to play tricks, and one day decided to have some fun at bear’s expense. It was winter, and the lake had frozen. Fox knew the path bear took by the lake and decided to lure bear with some fish. Fox cut a hole in the ice and stacked many fish next to it. Fox knew bear loved to eat fish, but so did fox. Fox didn’t want bear to fish in this spot, fearing bear would eat all the fish up. When bear saw all the fish he was excited. He asked fox to teach him how to catch so many fish. Bear swore he would do everything fox told him, so fox agreed. Fox took bear to another spot in the lake and cut a hole in the ice. Fox turned to bear and told him he must put his bushy tail into the water to catch the fish. Fox told bear he must sit very still. Fox warned bear that bear should not think of anything because fish can read thoughts. Fox went off into the bushes, and said he would tell bear when to pull his tail out of the water. Bear did as he was told. He did not move, and he did not think. Fox watched bear sitting so still and laughed and laughed, rolling upon the ground. But, soon fox grew tired and went home.

The next morning, fox went back to the lake, wondering if bear had gone home. It had snowed during the night. When fox approached the lake he saw a mound on the ice covered with snow. The mound was bear, who had fallen asleep. Fox burst out laughing. Quietly, fox crept up to bear, and began to shout: “Now bear! Now! Pull your tail up now!’ Hearing the commands, bear woke up and immediately tried to pull his tail out of the water. As he pulled, a loud snap was heard. Bear turned to look, thinking he had caught a lot of fish. But there were no fish. Bear’s beautiful tail had frozen in the water and broken off when he tried to pull it out. Groaning, bear yelled at fox. Bear was angry because he lost his tail through fox’s trick. Bear swore he would get even with fox. Fox just laughed and laughed at bear and his missing tail. Bear became more angry and leapt at fox. But, fox was too fast and ran away laughing. To this day, bear continues to have a short tail, and still does not like fox. Sometimes in the woods a bear’s groaning can be heard. Bear groans because he is remembering the trick fox played long ago and continues to mourn the loss of his beautiful tail.>>

Click to view full size image

Trofim Lysenko. Source: http://th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de/~jr/physflops.html

Well... that's right up Trofim Lysenko's alley!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysenkoism wrote:
Lysenkoism was built on theories of the heritability of acquired characteristics

So because one bear lost his tail on an icy lake, all other bears after him have been born without the long tail that their long-ago ancestor lost! That's good to know!






Ann

[Beyond]

That 'short' tale is just a little hard for me to bear

[bystander]

What do you get when you cross a Bear with a Fox?
Obviously what the Dippers really are

Closest thing to a bear with a tail I could find

Although once thought to be related to the giant panda (a true bear), the red panda (or lesser panda) has been reclassified into its own family, more closely related to the raccoon family and the weasel family (including badgers, wolverines, and otters) than to bears.

[neufer]

So because one bear lost his tail on an icy lake,
all other bears after him have been born without the long tail that their long-ago ancestor lost!

Well... that's right up Trofim Lysenko's alley!

Lysenkoism was built on theories of the heritability of acquired characteristics

• Well... it sure beats the Genesis version of things

<<Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829) is remembered for his belief in the inheritance of acquired characteristics, and the use and disuse model by which organisms developed their characteristics. Lamarck incorporated this belief into his theory of evolution. Charles Darwin allowed a role for use and disuse as an evolutionary mechanism subsidiary to natural selection, most often in respect of disuse. He praised Lamarck for "the eminent service of arousing attention to the probability of all change in the organic... world, being the result of law, not miraculous interposition". Stephen Jay Gould argues that Lamarck was the "primary evolutionary theorist", in that his ideas, and the way in which he structured his theory set the tone for much of the subsequent thinking in evolutionary biology, through to the present day.>>

<<In 1962 three of the most prominent Soviet physicists, Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich, Vitaly Ginzburg, and Pyotr Kapitsa, presented a case against Lysenko, proclaiming his work as false science. They also denounced Lysenko's application of political power to silence opposition and eliminate his opponents within the scientific community. These denunciations occurred during a period of structural upheaval in Soviet government, during which the major institutions were purged of the strictly ideological and political machinations which had controlled the work of the Soviet Union's scientific community for several decades under Stalin.

In 1964, physicist Andrei Sakharov spoke out against Lysenko in the General Assembly of the Academy of Sciences: "He is responsible for the shameful backwardness of Soviet biology and of genetics in particular, for the dissemination of pseudo-scientific views, for adventurism, for the degradation of learning, and for the defamation, firing, arrest, even death, of many genuine scientists."

The Soviet press was soon filled with anti-Lysenkoite articles and appeals for the restoration of scientific methods to all fields of biology and agricultural science. In 1965 Lysenko was removed from his post as director of the Institute of Genetics at the Academy of Sciences and restricted to an experimental farm in Moscow's Lenin Hills (the Institute itself was soon dissolved). After Khrushchev's dismissal in 1964, the president of the Academy of Sciences declared that Lysenko's immunity to criticism had officially ended. An expert commission was sent to investigate records kept at Lysenko's experimental farm. A few months later, a devastating critique of Lysenko was made public. As a result, Lysenko was immediately disgraced in the Soviet Union, although his work continued to have impact in China for many years after.>>