LBG-2377
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationHercules
Right ascension16h 44m 48.3s[1]
Declination+46° 27 08.2[1]
Redshift3.03[1]
Distance11.4 billion light-years (3.5 billion parsecs)
(light travel distance)
~21.2 billion light-years (6.5 billion parsecs)
(present proper distance)
Apparent magnitude (V)22.6
Characteristics
TypeGalaxy merger
Other designations
PC 1643+4631A-2377
The location of LBG-2377 (circled in red)

LBG-2377 is the most distant galaxy merger discovered, as of 2008, at a distance of 11.4 billion light years.[2] This galaxy merger is so distant that the universe was in its infancy when its light was emitted. It is expected that this galaxy proto-cluster will merge to form a brightest cluster galaxy, and become the core of a larger galaxy cluster.

Discovery

Observations were conducted with the Keck Telescope in Hawaii by Jeff Cooke, a McCue Postdoctoral Fellow in physics and astronomy at UCI. While looking for single galaxies, Cooke found something that at first appeared like a bright, single object. However, further analysis of wavelengths of the emitted light proved that they were three galaxies merging, and likely two smaller galaxies.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Cooke, Jeff; Barton, Elizabeth J.; Bullock, James S.; Stewart, Kyle R.; Wolfe, Arthur M. (2008). "A Candidate Brightest Protocluster Galaxy at z = 3.03". The Astrophysical Journal. 681 (2): L57–L60. arXiv:0803.3808. Bibcode:2008ApJ...681L..57C. doi:10.1086/590406. S2CID 5899170.
  2. ABC Science "Found! Oldest galaxy pile-up"


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