How far is the Universe’s most distant galaxy?
And how close does the farthest one we’ve ever found so far come to it?
“Science, however, gives me the feeling of steady progress: I am convinced that theoretical physics is actual philosophy. It has revolutionized fundamental concepts, e.g., about space and time (relativity), about causality (quantum theory), and about substance and matter (atomistics), and it has taught us new methods of thinking (complementarity) which are applicable far beyond physics.” -Max Born
The Universe is an awfully big place. When we look out at the night sky, almost everything visible to the naked eye is a part of our own galaxy, like a star, star cluster or nebula, with very few exceptions. Yet some of these exceptions — like the Triangulum Galaxy, above — can be seen through the stars of our own Milky Way, poking out from the darkness. These “island Universes” are found throughout the Universe everywhere we look, even in the darkest, emptiest patches of space, if only we’re willing to collect enough light to look deep enough.
Most of these galaxies are so distant that even at the speed of light, it takes many millions or even billions of years for a single photon…
