Infrared image of the oldest known galaxy. Click on image for
full size Courtesy of Livermore National Lab Scientists Find One
of the First Galaxies News story originally written on June 21,
1999 Scientists found an ancient galaxy that may be one of the
first ever! The galaxy is hidden inside an enormous black hole.
This black hole is estimated at 100 million times the mass of
our Sun. The galaxy is approximately 11 billion years old.
Recently, scientists revealed the expected age of the Universe
to be 12 billion years old. Because the galaxy is trapped within
a black hole, scientists used radio signals to find it. When a
black hole swallows something, it releases energy. Earth
receives this energy in the form of radio waves. For over 30
years, scientists have received these waves. However, until now
they did not know how to use them to create an image. Scientists
used the telescopes at Keck Observatory in Hawaii to create the
images. This technology wasn't available when the first signals
were received years