In this image of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, several objects are identified as the faintest, most compact galaxies ever observed in the distant universe. They are so far away that we see them as they looked less than one billion years after the Big Bang. Blazing with the brilliance of millions of stars, each of the newly discovered galaxies is a hundred to a thousand times smaller than our Milky Way Galaxy.
The bottom row of pictures shows several of these clumps (distance expressed in redshift value). Three of the galaxies appear to be slightly disrupted. Rather than being shaped like rounded blobs, they appear stretched into tadpole-like shapes. This is a sign that they may be interacting and merging with neighboring galaxies to form larger structures.
The detection required joint observations between Hubble and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Blue light seen by Hubble shows the presence of young stars. The absence of infrared light from Spitzer observations conclusively shows that these are truly young galaxies without an earlier generation of stars.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and N. Pirzkal (STScI/ESA)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Galaxies in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, HUDF, Hubble Ultra Deep Field |
| Object Description | Distant galaxies, Deep field survey |
| R.A. Position | 03h 31m 59.99s |
| Dec. Position | -27° 48' 0.0" |
| Constellation | Fornax |
| Dimensions | The full HUDF image is 3 arcminutes square. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | GRAPES HST Data The science data were selected based on findings from The Grism-ACS Program for Extragalactic Science (GRAPES), HST proposal : S. Malhotra et. al. The science team includes: N. Pirzkal (STSCI/ESA) S. Malhotra and J. Rhoads (Arizona State University), and C. Xu (Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics). HUDF HST Data This image of the HUDF was created from HST data from the following proposal: : S. Beckwith, S. Malhotra, M. Giavalisco, N. Panagia, J. Rhoads, M. Stiavelli, R. Somerville, S. Casertano, B. Margon, C. Blades, J. Caldwell, and M. Clampin (STScI), M. Corbin (STScI/CSC), M. Dickinson, H. Ferguson, and A. Fruchter (STScI), R. Hook (STScI/ECF), S. Jogee, A. Koekemoer, R. Lucas, M. Sosey, and L. Bergeron (STScI). NICMOS HUDF Data The NICMOS HUDF data were from proposal : R. Thompson (University of Arizona), G. Illingworth and R. Bouwens (university of California, Santa Cruz), M. Dickinson (STScI), D. Eisenstein and X. Fan (University of Arizona), M. Franx (University of Leiden), M. Rieke (University of Arizona), A. Riess (STScI), and P. van Dokkum (Yale University). The Spitzer science team includes: H. Yan (Caltech), M Dickinson (NOAO), D. Stern and P. Eisenhardt (Jet Propulsion Lab), R.-R. Chary (Caltech), M. Giavalisco (STScI), H. Ferguson and S. Casertano (STScI), C. Conselice (Caltech), C. Papovich (Steward Observatory), W. Reach (Caltech), N. Grogin (STScI), L. Moustakas (Jet Propulsion Lab), and M. Ouchi (STScI). |
| Instrument | HST>ACS/WFC, HST>ACS/NICMOS, and SST>IRAC |
| Exposure Dates | September 24, 2003 - January 16, 2004, Exposure Time: 11.3 days (ACS/WFC), September 3, 2003 - November 27, 2003, Exposure Time: 11.3 days (ACS/NICMOS), and February 2004, Exposure Time: 5 days (IRAC) |
| Filters | ACS/WFC: F435W (B), F606W (V), F775W (i), F850LP (z) ACS/NICMOS: F110W (J110) and F160W (H160) IRAC: 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 microns |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | Blue: F435W (B) Green: F606W (V) + F775W (i) Red: F850LP (z) |
| Compass Image |  |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
