OUR COSMOS

Astronomers spot most distant galaxies ever seen

Astronomers using a giant telescope say they have found glimpses of the most distant -- and oldest -- galaxies ever seen.
"The light the researchers viewed originated when the universe was only 500 million years old and has been traveling through distant space for billions of years, said Richard Ellis, an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology.
This means the team found galaxies further back in time than anyone has ever seen as scientists try to better understand how the universe was born some 13.5 billion years ago, he said.
Ellis is due to present his findings of work he did with graduate student Dan Stark at a meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society.
"The implication is these are the early generation of stars switched on when the universe was in its infancy."
The team used the giant Keck telescope in Hawaii.