Is the Universe older than we think?

[TheOrionNebula]

TL;DR Summary

Is the Universe older than we think - or are the distance / look back times / redshift estimates from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) systematically biassed?

The James Webb Space Telescope, JWST, has revolutionised our views of galaxy formation in the early universe, suggesting that galaxies showing structure may have been formed at much earlier times than our best models of galaxy evolution predict. This has even led to suggestions that The Universe may be much older than we have believed (https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-evolved-galaxy-early-universe)

Yet others have suggested that JWST’s estimates of the distances, or the look back times to objects in the very distant Universe are affected by systematic biases (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-023-02093-8) , for example the well known Malmqvist bias (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malmquist_bias).

What do you think … could our galaxy evolution models be completely wrong, or might the estimates of very distant objects now coming from the JWST be systematically over estimated, or is there even some other effect or new Physics that is causing this conundrum in contemporary astrophysics?

 

[berkeman]

Thread closed temporarily for Moderation...

EDIT -- thread reopened provisionally...

 

[Nugatory]

TL;DR Summary: Is the Universe older than we think - or are the distance / look back times / redshift estimates from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) systematically biassed?

This situation is reminescent of OPERA's observation of faster-than-light neutrinos: either a) everything we know is wrong; or b) there is something wrong with the observations or our interpretation of them.

History says that although the former cannot be excluded, chances are that it's the latter.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Is the universe older than we think?
I think so.

If this were a 1960's SciFi show, at this point the computer would start smoking and explode.

However, taking thsi result at face value, there are two possibilities:

1. The universe is older than all the other cosmological evidence points to.
2. Galaxies of this sort formed earlier than we thought.

Take your pick.

 

[PeterDonis]

Moderator's note: An off topic subthread started by a now banned member has been deleted. Thread remains open.