The age of the universe

[Outdoorsman]

How old is the universe?

The reason I ask is that, if we have telescopes in space which can "see" almost out to the edge of the universe, how come the light from the most distant objects has taken far longer to get here than what we assume to be the time of the "beginning"?

I'm just a simple traveller through life, so a simple answer would suffice, thanks...

[spacechimp]

Oh, much older than me.

[rojash]

What do you mean by the time of the "beginning"?

[JustSia]

Rojash asked a valid question. By the "beginning" do you mean Big Bang or the Biblical creation?

The age of the Universe is believed to be between 12 and 15 billion years.

The furthest object detected in the Universe is seen back in time when when it was just about 750 million years old. It is about 13billionn light-years away, and that is considering the Universe's expansion. Which is within the age range.

You can have a look at these:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3490657.stm

http://www2.glos.ac.uk/gdn/origins/earth/age.htm

S.

[Outdoorsman]

Many thanks JustSia.

Recently I was on one of my wanderings one bright and starry night, as usual, when the thought came into my head about how old the Universe is and - not being knowledgeable about these things - I thought that one of you boffins may come up with the answer.

You read my meaning correctly - about The Big Bang theory being the time of the "beginning". (Sorry Rojash for not being more specific). You scientists like things put logically and precisely.

We seem to know how and when the Universe began - but does anyone know why?

Thanks for the links...

[JustSia]

:0) We don't even know how, yet, nor what from. As to why, this is more of a spiritual question than anything, at least until we figure out the previous 2.

This is why science (especially cosmology), unlike some people seem to think, is not that far from religion/spirituality.

But great question. Enjoy the starry nights, this is when the best ideas and understandings come. It's funny but the more curious we are about the sky and the Universe the more we seem to understand about ourselves, or at least this is how I feel.

S.