Astronomy Journal Entry
Hubble Spies Most Distant Galaxy (February 25, 2008)
Artist's view of galaxies forming in the early universe. G. Bacon, STScI, NASA, ESA.
Astronomers caught sight of what may be the most distant galaxy ever seen. New Hubble Space Telescope pictures reveal a galaxy that's a mind-warping 13 billion light-years away.
The galaxy's light reaching Hubble now began its journey "only" 700 million years after the Big Bang. That's the "mother of all" explosions astronomers say kickstarted the universe and marks the beginning of time.
The images show a "baby" galaxy called A1689-zD1 in the early stages of development. After the Big Bang, astronomers say the universe went through "Dark Ages." At that time, matter cooled as it expanded outwards in all directions. Gradually, the matter condensed to form clouds of hydrogen gas. The gas eventually formed stars which clustered together into early galaxies. The newly-discovered galaxy could be one of these.
Astronomers were able to see the distant galaxy with help from a natural magnifying "glass." It's a massive galaxy cluster called Abell 1689 between the Milky Way and the new-found galaxy. Abell 1689 is so massive it bends light passing near it. Astronomers used the galaxy like a giant zoom lens to magnify their view of A1689-zD1.
