Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The galaxy GN-z11 which held the crown of “most distant galaxy known” for 7 years, has a redshift factor of 10.603. That means that the light has been travelling through the expanding universe to get stretched out that much for 13.36 billion years. But the distance it covered during that time as the universe expanded was 32 billion light years. So if speed = distance/time, that means GN-z11 has an apparent speed due to the expansion of space of 2.4 times the speed of light. Appearing to break Einstein’s fundamental law of Physics...
Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV
Video edited by Martino Gasparrini: fiverr.com/mgs_editing
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📚 My book, "A Brief History of Black Holes", out NOW in hardback, paperback, e-book and audiobook (which I narrated myself!): lnk.to/DrBecky
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👕 My merch, including JWST designs, are available here (with worldwide shipping!): dr-becky.teemill.com
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🎧 Royal Astronomical Society Podcast that I co-host: podfollow.com/supermassive
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🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and click the little bell icon to be notified when I post a new video!
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👩🏽💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford (Christ Church). I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.
drbecky.uk.com
The galaxy GN-z11 which held the crown of “most distant galaxy known” for 7 years, has a redshift factor of 10.603. That means that the light has been travelling through the expanding universe to get stretched out that much for 13.36 billion years. But the distance it covered during that time as the universe expanded was 32 billion light years. So if speed = distance/time, that means GN-z11 has an apparent speed due to the expansion of space of 2.4 times the speed of light. Appearing to break Einstein’s fundamental law of Physics...
Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV
Video edited by Martino Gasparrini: fiverr.com/mgs_editing
---
📚 My book, "A Brief History of Black Holes", out NOW in hardback, paperback, e-book and audiobook (which I narrated myself!): lnk.to/DrBecky
---
👕 My merch, including JWST designs, are available here (with worldwide shipping!): dr-becky.teemill.com
---
🎧 Royal Astronomical Society Podcast that I co-host: podfollow.com/supermassive
---
🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and click the little bell icon to be notified when I post a new video!
---
👩🏽💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford (Christ Church). I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.
drbecky.uk.com
