If the Universe is indeed “balloon shaped”, then are we seeing something close to the center of the balloon, and thus this is an image of a galaxy that was last formed? (ie younger than ours)(the center of the galaxy would have to be the 13.73 nillion ly away)

If the Universe is more linear and the expansion is throwing us all out into oblivion, then this image is either a universe ahead of us, or a universe behind us.

If the “brane” theory is in play, then what we are likely seeing is a galaxy that is in proximity to the intersection of the “brane” of our universe and the “brane” of another.

The article is correct…this is mind-crushing

I know I’m just a conspiracy theorist sometimes, but I really wish that in the near future some benevolent alien species would just stop by and say to us, “Oh, hey, we’ve noticed you guys haven’t quite made it into space very efficiently, yet, so here’s a whole bunch of free technology on us. Don’t go on a murderous rampage with it.” Of course, I know it’s silly. I like to imagine every once in awhile, though.

Jim
Uh no, we will never see the big bang.
1) First of all it was not an explosion as the name would have you believe, it was the expansion of space itself. Think of a bunch of cubes stacked together, then think of all those cubes growing at the same rate at the same time. A poor analogy as it implies a certain ‘graininess’ to space or even an aethor or subaethor but I think you’ll get the idea.
2) Everything was too hot for photons or other particles we know to exist for several hundred thousands of years (maybe more I don’t remember the number). So the earliest light we’ll get is long, long after the major event.
Sorry.

Will that device (or perhaps subsequent technology) be able to see back far enough to witness the Big Bang? If so, what do astronomers expect it will look like?