With the combined power of NASA's Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes, as well as a cosmic magnification effect, astronomers have spotted what could be the most distant galaxy ever seen. Light from the primordial galaxy traveled approximately 13.2 billion light-years before reaching NASA's telescopes, shining forth from the so-called cosmic dark ages when the universe was just 3.6 percent of its present age.
Astronomers relied on gravitational lensing to catch sight of the early, distant galaxy. In this phenomenon, predicted by Albert Einstein a century ago, the gravity of foreground objects warps and magnifies the light from background objects.
In the big image at left, the many galaxies of a massive cluster called MACS J1149+2223 dominate the scene. Gravitational lensing by the giant cluster brightened the light from the newfound galaxy, known as MACS1149-JD, some 15 times, bringing the remote object into view.
At upper right, a partial zoom-in shows MACS1149-JD in more detail, and a deeper zoom appears to the lower right. In these visible and infrared light images from Hubble, MACS1149- JD looks like a dim, red speck. The small galaxy's starlight has been stretched into longer wavelengths, or "redshifted," by the expansion of the universe. MACS1149-JD's stars originally emitted the infrared light seen here at much shorter, higher-energy wavelengths, such as ultraviolet.
The far-off galaxy existed within an important era when the universe transformed from a starless expanse during the dark ages to a recognizable cosmos full of galaxies. The discovery of the faint, small galaxy opens a window onto the deepest, remotest epochs of cosmic history.
Credits
NASA, ESA, W. Zheng (JHU), M. Postman (STScI), and the CLASH Team| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | MACS J1149+2223, MACS1149-JD |
| Object Description | Galaxy Cluster/Gravitational Lens and z=9.6 Galaxy Candidate |
| R.A. Position | 11h 49m 35.5s |
| Dec. Position | 22° 24' 4.21" |
| Constellation | Leo |
| Distance | The distance to the cluster is 5.3 billion light-years (1.6 billion parsecs or redshift z = 0.544). The distance to the lensed source is 13.2 billion light-years (4 billion parsecs or redshift z = 9.6). |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The image was created from Hubble data from proposals : PI: H. Ebeling (University of Hawaii); and 12068: PI: M. Postman (STScI). |
| Instrument | HST>ACS/WFC and HST>WFC3/IR |
| Exposure Dates | 2004, 2010, and 2011, Exposure Time: 11.3 hours |
| Filters | ACS/WFC F435W (B), F475W (g), F555W (V), F606W (V), F625W (r), F775W (I), F814W (I), and F850LP (z) WFC3/IR F105W (Y), F110W (YJ), F125W (J), F140W (JH), and F160W(H) |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | This image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the ACS and WFC3 instruments. Several filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated: Blue: ACS/WFC F435W (B) + F475W (g) + F555W (V) Green: ACS/WFC F606W (V) + F625W (r) + F775W (I) + Red: ACS/WFC F814W (I) + F850LP (z) + WFC3/IR F105W (Y) + F110W (YJ) + F125W (J) + F140W (JH) + F160W(H) |
| 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. |
