New hypothesis, published by the Royal Astronomical Society, challenges the prevailing cosmological model used to estimate the universe's age and provides a new perspective on the perplexing "impossible early galaxy problem."
In the past, scientists estimated the age of our universe by measuring the time since the Big Bang and studying the oldest stars through the redshift of light from distant galaxies. In 2021, the prevailing model estimated the universe's age at 13.797 billion years.
However, the existence of stars like Methuselah, which appear older than the estimated universe age, and the discovery of early galaxies with advanced states of evolution have puzzled scientists.
These galaxies observed just 300 million years after the Big Bang, possess levels of maturity and mass typically associated with billions of years of cosmic evolution. Additionally, they are oddly small in size, creating further mystery. Thus, the 13.7 billion year estimate started to look somewhat iffy, and many scientists felt it was time to re-examine their thinking as to the age of our universe.
Now, Rajendra Gupta, a physicist at the University of Ottawa, has introduced a new model. "Our newly-devised model stretches the galaxy formation time by several billion years, making the universe 26.7 billion years old, and not 13.7 as previously estimated," he said.
The complete study was published in the Royal Astronomical Society on 7 July 2023. Only time will tell if established orthodox thinking ends up accepting Gupta's proposition.