“We have no idea why these galaxies grew so large so soon”

Five full-sized galaxies have been detected at the edge of the visible universe, reported Science Now.  This continues a trend over the last few years where astronomers have been detecting old objects at young ages (e.g., 07/25/2007, 09/24/2006, 08/18/2006, 03/31/2006).   “The galaxies, which are forming stars very rapidly, are big for their age, meaning that astronomers might have to rethink current ideas about galaxy formation.”
    Rethinking looms big as a theme in the article.  The first stars were supposed to coalesce slowly into the first galaxies, but “this process was supposed to take billions of years.”  A team using data from Hubble, Spitzer and Keck telescopes confirmed these are Milky Way sized galaxies, not small members of a cluster.  “We have no idea why these galaxies grew so large so soon,” remarked Giovanni Fazio of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.  “I think we still have a lot new to learn about what’s happening in the early universe,”

This is not a surprise to creationists.  It is a surprise to big-bang secular cosmologists.  We hope the astronomers will rethink current ideas, but for significant progress, they will have to think outside the bang.