Cosmic distance record "broken".

[romantic_india]

A cataclysmic explosion of a huge star near the edge of the observable Universe may be the most distant single object yet spied by a telescope.
Scientists believe the blast, which was detected by Nasa's Swift space observatory, occurred a mere 520 million years after the Big Bang.

This means its light has taken a staggering 13.

Comments

[mercystars]

I love articles like this. I'm trying to wrap my head around how far away 13.14 billion light years must be...

[romantic_india]

Exactly. Just when I think I'm starting to begin to grasp it, it escapes me.

[mercystars]

That's it exactly! You think you can comprehend, you're just RIGHT THERE, and then ~pouf~ it's gone.

[latnmac]

Not to get all scientific on you guys (oh, wait... never mind lol) but there is a reason for that: It literally is impossible to "wrap your mind around" such ridiculously large numbers/sizes/distances/concepts. In fact, we don't even have to go that high. Embarrassingly enough, our minds are limited to being able to visualize with exactitude maybe up to a dozen elements or so. Try these quick & easy experiments: Drop a fistful of matches or pins on the floor, and see if you can tell how many there are without counting them. Look outside your window, at a car parked down the street, and see if you can tell how many feet/yards there are between you and it, without measuring.

Being made aware of such limitations kinda makes it even more mind-blowing that we as a species have achieved so much, huh? ;)