Oldest galaxy spied from Hawaii

A scientific team exploring the beginnings of the universe through telescopes on Hawaii island has found the oldest, most distant galaxy yet detected — about 12.91 billion light-years away.

Thegalaxy, called SXDF-NB1006-2, was detected by a team of Japa­nese astronomers using the Subaru and Keck telescopes at the summit of Mauna Kea.

Masanori Iye of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan said that by using the specialized optics of the Subaru Telescope, scientists plan to explore the structure of the newly discovered galaxy for clues to the early universe.

"The day is not so far off when the mysteries of the dark ages of the universe and the physical properties of the first galaxies willbe revealed," Iye said in a statement.

Scientists also hope to find more distant galaxies to learn how the early cosmos developed.

"There are lots of new questions arising from the current discovery," Iye said.

Scientists theorize that the universe began expanding from dense matter 13.7 billion years ago to form galaxies, stars, planets and other objects. The Milky Way galaxy is about 10 billion years old, and the solar system is estimatedto be 4.54 billion years old.

The newly discovered galaxyis slightly farther away than galaxy GN-108036, found last year via the Subaru Telescope.

Both galaxies were formed during an early time called the "cosmic dawn," when the first stars and galaxies appeared.

Using a specialized filter and camera mounted on the Subaru Telescope, the team initially searched a vast area for objects in the distant universe.

The team was able to narrow the field of objects they observed from 58,733 to four candidates, then two, then one.

The use ofhigh-powered spectrographs at the Subaru and Keck telescopesconfirmed that SXDF-NB1006-2 is the most distant galaxy.

Very distant galaxies are moving rapidly away and have a characteristic "red shift," similar to the Doppler effect that makes a train whistle sound deeper when the train is moving away from the observer.

More sophisticated instruments due to be installed later this year will allow astronomers to probe even further back in time, the scientists said. So will the Thirty Meter Telescope planned for Mauna Kea.

The team of astronomers was led by Taka­to­shi Shi­buya of the Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Japan, and included Kazu­aki Ota of Kyoto University, and Iye and Nobu­nari Kashi­kawa, both from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.