The James Webb Telescope has been providing us with crucial information regarding our solar system, other galaxies and our universe. Not long ago, the telescope found six galaxies that could possibly be older than the universe, that is, older than the big bang, which is when scientists believe our galactic story began.
These “universe breakers,” have already left astronomers and scientists puzzled – and therefore many of them have started to question if the universe is as old as we deem it to be. An article published by the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, claims that the universe might be almost double its current estimated age – 26.7 billion years old. What proof do they have to claim this?
Measuring the age of the universe?
The redshift phenomena – put in simple words, the rate of expansion of the universe, is what scientists and astronomers use to understand and estimate the age of the universe.
When red light travels, its wavelengths are much longer than violet/blue light waves. Longer wavelengths indicate that light is reaching us from a place in space that is almost impossible to reach, it’s very far away. This is how scientists measure how far away things are in this cosmos. It is also how the James Webb Telescope (JWT) was able to identify those six galaxies.
CC: James Webb telescope detects evidence of ancient ‘universe breaker’ galaxies
The Proof:
The galaxies founded by JWT were almost 13.5 billion years old – when the universe was just a baby. The likelihood of celestial objects to exist when the universe was in its earliest stages is almost impossible.
Not to mention, these galaxies seem to be far too advanced to have existed in the universes’ early stages.
Other than these galaxies, there is Methuselah. This star appears to either be older than the universe itself, or has existed since the early stages of the universe.
Though the findings of the universe being almost 27 billion years old seem convincing, only few research papers and genuine proofs have been submitted by university scientists and space research organisations.