When they say a galaxy that we see with a telescope is 12 billion years old, is it really the same age as us?

Question

When they say a galaxy that we see with a telescope is 12 billion years old, is it really the same age as us?

Answer 1

The galaxy that's 12-billion light years away that we view looks like it did 12-billion years ago, long before our solar system even existed. How that same galaxy looks today, 12-billion years later, is anybody's guess.

Answer 2

Assuming a galaxy could be at a distance of 12 billion light years all it's parts would have had to travel to where it is,then the light from it would have to travel another 12 billion years for you to see it.

  It would likely not be in existence today.

  If a person is standing in the same room with you,you are seeing that person as they were hundreds of millionths of a second ago so they are that much older than you.

Answer 3

We see it as it was 12 billion years ago.  That is most of the age of the Universe, so it will probably look a lot different now.  

Are galaxies at 12 billion light years actually visible?

Answer 4

I can't remember how old the Milky Way is thought to be, but if you're wondering whether the 12 billion light years distant galaxy is still there, well that's anybody's guess. It could have merged with another galaxy, or possibly been scattered by a larger galaxy's gravity by now. If these sorts of things haven't happened by now, then it's likely still out there spinning around, but most of the stars that were in it 12bil years ago have already died, and their remains will have given birth to new stars, etc.

Answer 5

Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is about the same age as the Universe, about 13.7 billion years, so if another galaxy is only 12 billion years old, it would not have formed as early as ours.  However, our solar system is only about 4.5 billion years old, much younger than either of the 2 galaxies mentioned.