In message , Odysseus
writes
Phil wrote:

Is the Quasar still the furthest object known? If so how far from
Earth?

Some quasars are among the furthest discrete observable objects, but
space at similar distances is also populated by young galaxies.
Depending on how you define "object", though, the CMBR (cosmic
microwave background radiation) might count as the furthest, as it
represents the point in time when the universe became transparent to
radiation nearly fourteen billion years ago, therefore nearly
fourteen billion light-years away.

One problem with finding the "most distant" object is that the estimates
of the size and age of the universe keep changing :-)
For instance, looking through Andrew Yee's posts (which I find are worth
keeping) there's a report of the discovery of a quasar in galaxy
J1148+5251, estimated to have formed 870 million years after the Big
Bang and to be 12.8 billion light years away. This was in July 2003.
But in March 2002 (i.e. before the recent WMAP findings) a galaxy formed
780 million years after the Bang was estimated to be 15.5 billion years
away. This was a normal galaxy.
--
"Forty millions of miles it was from us, more than forty millions of miles of
void"