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In Kurzgesagt's latest video about the largest black holes, the narrator says that two black holes have been observed orbiting each other at a distance of 17 billion light years from Earth. So light must take at least take 17 billion years to reach Earth.

But the universe is only about 13.7(or maybe 14) billion years old.

So, how is it possible that the black holes are 17 billion light years from Earth?

Video Link with time tag: 3:32

Qmechanic
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overkill
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  • Possible duplicates: https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/26549/2451 , https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/12049/2451 and links therein. – Qmechanic Aug 04 '21 at 01:37

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The easiest way to think about this (and without going into cosmology concepts such as the Hubble horizon) is that when the light was emitted, the black hole was not 17 billion light years away from Earth. They were closer. They are 17 billion light years away now because the universe has expanded while the light was travelling towards us.

You can calculate how much closer the black hole was when it emitted the light if you also know the relevant cosmological parameters such as the Hubble parameter. This will depend on the exact cosmological model you're using, such as how much matter/radiation/dark energy is in the universe - see the Hubble horizon article linked above.

Allure
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