-8
$\begingroup$

It seems inevitable to me that the scope will indeed image them. If so, will the astonishingly inflexible astrophysicist establishment have the humility to admit they're wrong, and that the Big Bang theory is incorrect?

Or will there be a flurry of hand waving?

Thank you.

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
8
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ Why "inevitable", if they're not there? I don't understand. Could you please elaborate? $\endgroup$
    – paul garrett
    Jul 11, 2022 at 23:08
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @paulgarrett Well, I did say 'seems' inevitable. $\endgroup$
    – White Prime
    Jul 11, 2022 at 23:10
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ But isn't that the very question: are there things that far away, or not? We'll get an answer one way or another, but I don't see the inevitability ahead-of-time of either yes or no, etc. Am I misunderstanding something? I'm not a professional astronomer, etc. $\endgroup$
    – paul garrett
    Jul 11, 2022 at 23:12
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @paulgarrett Then I'll speak plainly, Paul. It's inevitable because the very idea that the universe - and even space itself - had a beginning was always a fundamentally flawed hypothesis. $\endgroup$
    – White Prime
    Jul 11, 2022 at 23:27
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ I voted to close this nonsense as you're basically just asking for opinions on a hypothetical scenario. $\endgroup$
    – StephenG - Help Ukraine
    Jul 12, 2022 at 11:18

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1
$\begingroup$

I will answer your question: if the James Webb Telescope finds galaxies beyond 14 billion light-years, then cosmologists will certainly revise some key points in the chronology of the Big Bang.

You might want to remember a nice saying: "Cosmologists might be wrong but they're never in doubt". This means that cosmology is our best theoretical guess given by a plain extrapolation of current known law of Physics through the use of Mathematics and actual observational datas. Once the observational datas change, obviously also the extrapolation derived from those changes.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ If you look at how distance is calculated from redshift it is obvious that James Webb will never find galaxies further away than 13.72 billion light years. Even if James Webb were to find an object with close to infinite redshift, the redshift to distance converter will place it aroud 13.72 billion light years away. Se for instance: astro.ucla.edu/~wright/CosmoCalc.html $\endgroup$
    – Agerhell
    Sep 27, 2022 at 12:19

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .