Age of the Universe

The graph below shows the distance and recessional velocity of a number of distant galaxies. Assuming the universe started with a "Big Bang" in which all of these galaxies were crammed into a small area of space, and that they have all been moving apart at a constant speed since then, estimate the age of the universe in years.

Note: 1 megaparsec is 3.09 × 1 0 22 \num{3.09e22} years.

1.4 × 1 0 10 \num{1.4e10} 2.1 × 1 0 11 \num{2.1e11} 4.1 × 1 0 13 \num{4.1e13} 3.6 × 1 0 8 \num{3.6e8}

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1 solution

Andrew Normand
Mar 5, 2017

The solution is simply to find time from distance divided by speed for the more distant galaxies. You will need to convert distance and velocity to metres and metres per second, and then convert your answer from seconds into years.

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