Universe May Be Older Than Expected

[fafalone]

CNN is reporting on an article in the July 10th Edition of Astrophysical Journal letters that quasar APM 08279+5255 has an iron content far greater than it should, implying the age of the universe to be older than previously suspected, given that this quasar is 13.5 billion light years away.

 

Recent XMM-Newton observations of the high-redshift, lensed, broad absorption line (BAL) quasi-stellar object APM 08279+5255, one of the most luminous objects in the universe, allowed the detection of a high column density absorber (NH 1023 cm-2) in the form of a K-shell absorption edge of significantly ionized iron (Fe XV Fe XVIII) and corresponding ionized lower energy absorption. Our findings confirm a basic prediction of phenomenological geometry models for the BAL outflow and can constrain the size of the absorbing region. The Fe/O abundance of the absorbing material is significantly higher than solar (Fe/O = 25), giving interesting constraints on the gas enrichment history in the early universe.

-G. Hasinger, N. Schartel, and S. Komossa, writing in The Astrophysical Journal, 573:L73-L76, 2002 July 10

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[blike]

Did they give a new estimate on the age, or just imply that it has to be older?

[fafalone]

I don't have access to the full article, and CNN didn't say anything... but I'd imagine this will add at least a couple billion years to the estimate.