Stretched Out Image of Distant Galaxy
This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of the farthest galaxy yet seen in an image that has been stretched and amplified by a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. The embryonic galaxy, named SPT0615-JD, existed when the universe was just 500 million years old. Though a few other primitive galaxies have been seen at this early epoch, they have essentially all looked like red dots, given their small size and tremendous distances. However, in this case, the gravitational field of a massive foreground galaxy cluster, called SPT-CL J0615-5746, not only amplified the light from the background galaxy but also smeared the image of it into an arc (about 2 arcseconds long). Image analysis shows that the galaxy weighs in at no more than 3 billion solar masses (roughly 1/100th the mass of our fully grown Milky Way galaxy). It is less than 2,500 light-years across, half the size of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way. The object is considered prototypical of young galaxies that emerged during the epoch shortly after the big bang.
Credits
NASA , ESA, and B. Salmon (STScI)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Galaxy Cluster: SPT-CL J0615-5746 (z=0.972); Lensed Galaxy: SPT0615-JD (z~10.0) |
| Object Description | Galaxy cluster and distant lensed galaxy |
| R.A. Position | 06:15:49.7 |
| Dec. Position | -57:46:41 |
| Constellation | Pictor |
| Distance | Galaxy Cluster: 7.7 billion light-years; Lensed Galaxy: 13.243 billion light-years |
| Dimensions | Image is 2 arcmin across (about 4.5 million light-years at the distance of the cluster) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The HST observations include those from programs (F. High) and (D. Coe). |
| Instrument | ACS/WFC, WFC3/IR |
| Exposure Dates | January 2012 and February - March 2017 |
| Filters | F606W, F814W, F105W, F125W, F140W, F160W |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the ACS/WFC and WFC3/IR instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample various wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F606W Green: F814W Red: F105W + F125W + F140W + F160W |
| 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. |
