BoxJam: Ok, I get that seeing something a light year away means you're seeing how it looked a year ago...

BoxJam: But they also say the universe is about 14 billion years old. For something to be 11 billion light years away...

diagram: 11 billion light years

BoxJam: Doesn't that imply that we and the other galaxy had to be moving pretty fast? It had 3 billion years, and we've had 14, to get 11 billion light years apart...

diagram:

WE

THEY

d1+d2=11 B.L.Y.

t1=3 B.Y.

t2=14 B.Y.

ASSUME v1~=c

d1=3 B.L.Y.

d2=8 B.L.Y.

v2=8 B.L.Y. / 14 B.Y.

= 8/14 LIGHT YR/YR!

Ms. BoxJam: No, because the big bang happened all around us, though originated from a singularity. It caused, and causes, space to expand. We haven't moved away from the big bang; neither has the other galaxy...

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BoxJam: It really was it big bang, wasn't it?

Ms. BoxJam: Yeah, it was.