New galaxies turn up in astronomers' studies

Giant galaxies 10 billion light years away have been identified for the first time, and the discovery may help scientists determine if the universe is expanding indefinitely or fated to collapse inward on itself. The galaxies, the most distant celestial bodies ever looked at, were studied by three scientists from California and Arizona who report in the March 2 issue of Astrophysical Journal. The most distant galaxies previously reported were about 8 billion light years away.

One of the three scientists, Dr. Hyron Spinrad of the University of California at Berkeley, said it appeared that the most distant galaxies were much larger than the Milky W ay.