"They say the universe is expanding. That should help with the traffic." -Steven Wright
Look out at a nearby object in our Universe, and you'll find that the amount of time you look back (in years) is pretty much exactly equal to the object's distance (in light years). But look far away, and these two numbers start to diverge. In our 13.8 billion year old Universe, in fact, we can see back up to 46 billion light years in any direction. If you think this number seems absurd, you're not alone.
The upcoming launch of NASA s powerful James Webb Space Telescope should let astronomers see what some of the universe s first stars and galaxies looked like soon after the Big Bang.