Seeing the birth of the universe in an atom of hydrogen
Wednesday, September 5, 2012 - 11:32
in Astronomy & Space
Windows to the past, stars can unveil the history of our universe, currently estimated to be 14 billion years old. The farther away the star, the older it is—and the oldest stars are the most difficult to detect. Current telescopes can only see galaxies about 700 million years old, and only when the galaxy is unusually large or as the result of a big event like a stellar explosion.