These two Hubble Space Telescope images reveal an array of faraway galaxies, many of which existed at least 12.9 billion years ago and earlier. The circles pinpoint the most distant galaxies.
The images were taken simultaneously by two of Hubble's science instruments. The image at left, taken in near-infrared light by the Wide Field Camera 3, shows a very massive cluster of galaxies, called MACS J0416.1-2403, the large, bright galaxies at the center of the image. The cluster's immense gravitational field magnifies and brightens the images of faint galaxies far behind it, in a phenomenon called gravitational lensing.
The image at right, taken in visible light by the Advanced Camera for Surveys, is a parallel field. This view reveals myriad galaxies that make up a general background population, not compacted into a galaxy cluster.
Astronomers examined these Hubble images, along with observations taken in near-infrared light with the Spitzer Space Telescope, to determine the distances of the reddest-looking galaxies. Their light is stretched by the expansion of the universe. So the redder a galaxy looks, the farther away it is. These very dim objects may be more representative of the early universe, and offer new insight on the formation and evolution of the first galaxies.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and Z. Levay (STScI/AURA);Acknowledgment: NASA, ESA, and L. Infante (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile)
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | MACS J0416-2403, MACS J0416.1-2403 |
| Object Description | Strong-lensing cluster |
| R.A. Position | 04h 16m 09s.90 |
| Dec. Position | -04h 16m 09s.90 |
| Constellation | Eridanus |
| Distance | Redshift: z = 0.396 |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | MACS J0416-2403, MACS J0416.1-2403 is part of the Frontier Fields Program. These data were observed via the HST proposals: : J. Lotz (STScI) et al.; : M. Postman (STScI) et al. Supplemental data were obtained by proposal , PI: S. Rodney (JHU) et al. The science team comprises: L. Infante (Pontifica Universidad Católica de Chile), W. Zheng (JHU), N. Laporte and P. Troncoso (Pontifica Universidad Católica de Chile), A. Molino (University of São Paulo, Brazil/Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia/CSIC, Spain), J. Diego (University of Cantabria, Spain), F. Bauer (Millennium Institute of Astrophysics, Chile/Space Science Institute, Boulder), A. Zitrin (Caltech), J. Moustakas (Siena College, NY), X. Huang (University of Science and Technology of China), X. Shu (Anhui Normal University, China), D. Bina (IRAP/CNRS Toulouse, France), G. Brammer (STScI), T. Broadhurst (University of Basque Country/IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, Spain), H. Ford (JHU), and S. Garcia and S. Kim (Pontifica Universidad Católica de Chile). |
| Instrument | HST>ACS/WFC and HST>WFC3/IR |
| Exposure Dates | January 5 - September 28, 2014 |
| Filters | ACS/WFC: F435W (I) and F606W (R); ACS/WFC: F814W (I) and WFC3/IR F105W (Y); WFC3/IR: F125W (J), F140W (JH), and F160W (H) |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3/IR and ACS/WFC instruments. Several filters were used to sample various wavelengths. 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: F435W (I) + F606W (R) Green: F814W (I) + WFC3/IR F105W (Y) Red: 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. |
