How old is our universe? New study says Big Bang might have happened 27 billion years ago

[William Seger]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/07/14/universe-may-older-than-thought-study-shows/70411343007/

For years, astronomers and physicists have primarily calculated the age of the cosmos by measuring the time elapsed since the Big Bang and studying the oldest stars.

But the study published July 7 in the journal "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society" seems to confirm that previous estimates were widely off. What's referred to in the new study as the "impossible early galaxy problem" has long baffled scientists who struggle to reconcile why some galaxies thought to have come into existence long after the Big Bang appear to in fact be much older that the universe's estimated age.

Observed through NASAS's James Webb Telescope, galaxies and stars like the Methuselah appear to have a a level of maturity and mass typically associated with billions of years of cosmic evolution. It's a notable observation considering the widely-held belief that they came to existence hundreds of millions of years after the Big Bang.

But now, Rajendra Gupta, a theoretical physicist at the University of Ottawa who authored the study, believes he can explain the conundrum that has long puzzled scientists about these ancient galaxies. “Our newly-devised model stretches the galaxy formation time by a several billion years," Gupta wrote.

[Deuxcents]

1. I'm pro science but on this...we don't know nor will we ever know, imo

It’s too much to fathom so I’ll sit back and enjoy the photos. I would very much love for scientists involved to put all the photos on an iMax tour to as many theaters as possible.

[brewens]

4. Yup. Whichever way you go with creation, religion or science, I'm gonna ask what happened

before that?

[Hugh_Lebowski]

2. Or perhaps 'time' as we understand it ... is not actually a real thing

And the universe has simply always existed, and always will, and trying to put a number on its 'age' will always be an exercise in futility.

[dweller]

3. Maybe it's just 27 billion this time

And it’s a cyclic thing …
🤔



✌🏻

[3Hotdogs]

5. and what's beyond the edge of the universe?

[Hermit-The-Prog]

6. It's turtles all the way down.

[ZZenith]

7. Steady-State, Baybeeee!!!

The Universe is breathing!
The Universe is breathing!
The Universe


is breathing!

[twodogsbarking]

8. I go with no beginning and no end.

[BlueWavePsych]

9. Glad someone is taking into account expanding spacetime