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MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Whitney Clavin (818) 354-4673
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Don Savage (202) 358-1727
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

News Release: 2004-294 December 21, 2004

Aging Universe may Still be Spawning Massive Galaxies

NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer has spotted what appear to be
massive "baby" galaxies in our corner of the universe. Previously,
astronomers thought the universe's birth rate had dramatically
declined and only small galaxies were forming.

"We knew there were really massive young galaxies eons ago, but we
thought they had all matured into older ones more like our Milky
Way. If these galaxies are indeed newly formed, then this implies
parts of the universe are still hotbeds of galaxy birth," said Dr.
Chris Martin. He is principal investigator for the Galaxy Evolution
Explorer at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena,
Calif., and co-author of the study.

Martin and colleagues, led by Dr. Tim Heckman of Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, Md., unearthed three-dozen bright, compact
galaxies that greatly resemble the youthful galaxies of more than 10
billions years ago. These new galaxies are relatively close to us,
ranging from two to four billion light-years away. They may be as
young as 100 million to one billion years old. The Milky Way is
approximately 10 billion years old.

The recent discovery suggests our aging universe is still alive with
youth. It also offers astronomers their first, close-up glimpse at
what our galaxy probably looked like when it was in its infancy.
snip

I think this is one of the most revolutionary observation ever made.
How standard theory can explain these "not so far away" youthful galaxies?
I'm looking forward to see the answer...

Luigi Caselli