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Hubble Telescope Spies Ancient Galaxy

By CLARA MOSKOWITZ
Posted: 2008-02-12 20:23:20
Filed Under: Science News
Space.com


Astronomers have glimpsed what may be the farthest galaxy we've ever seen, providing a picture of a baby galaxy born soon after the beginning of the universe.

An artist's rendition of an embryonic galaxy
Space Telescope Science Institute / Imaginova

This artist's rendition depicts what the A1689-zD1 galaxy may have looked like. The first galaxies to form as the universe's "dark age" ended bore little resemblance to the majestic spiral and elliptical galaxies that are the near neighbors of our own Milky Way.

Images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed the galaxy at almost 13 billion light-years away, making it the strongest candidate for the most distant galaxy ever seen, said European Southern Observatory astronomer Piero Rosati, who helped make the discovery.

Since the galaxy is so far away, its light took ages to reach us, so what we see now is a snapshot of how this galaxy looked 13 billion years ago. At that point in time, the galaxy would have been newly formed, so the new observations provide a baby picture.

"We certainly were surprised to find such a bright young galaxy 13 billion years in the past," said astronomer Garth Illingworth of the University of California, Santa Cruz, a member of the research team. "This is the most detailed look to date at an object so far back in time."

The young galaxy, called A1689-zD1, was born about 700 million years after the Big Bang that scientists think created the universe. For most of its early life, the universe languished in "dark ages" when matter in the expanding universe cooled and formed clouds of hydrogen. Eventually matter began to clump into stars and galaxies that radiated light, heating up the universe and clearing the fog.

Photo Gallery

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA-JPL)

Out-of-This-World Photos

1 of 30    

An artist's graphical representation obtained from NASA depicts a pulsar, center, surrounded by whirling beams of light and radio waves. In mid-May, astronomers said they had spotted a pulsar with a orbit that they had never seen before.

Scientists think this newly discovered galaxy may have been one of the first to form and help end the dark ages.

"This galaxy presumably is one of the many galaxies that helped end the dark ages," said astronomer Larry Bradley of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, leader of the research team. "Astronomers are fairly certain that high-energy objects such as quasars did not provide enough energy to end the dark ages of the universe. But many young star-forming galaxies may have produced enough energy to end it."

The discovery was made possible by a natural magnifying glass — the galaxy cluster Abell 1689, which lies between us and the distant galaxy. Abell 1689's gravity is so strong it bends light that passes near it, acting like a giant zoom lens that magnifies what we see.

"This galaxy lies near the region where the galaxy cluster produces the highest magnification," Rosati said, "which was essential to bring this galaxy within reach of Hubble and Spitzer."

The discovery, announced today, will be detailed in the Astrophysical Journal.

(c) 1999-2007 Imaginova Corp. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

2008-02-12 17:18:21
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Recent Comments

1 - 10 of 780
780 comments

ottocartier 02:31:03 AM Feb 19 2008

malloympm Said: 02:40:07 PM Feb 17 2008

we are not smart, ottocartier
we destroy the biosphere and you call us smart!!!!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I didn't say we are smart. I said we are GREAT and POWERFUL!!!!!
Next time try reading with comprehension.

beckycoke 02:18:24 AM Feb 19 2008

cool pictures

vaticanarizona 05:32:09 AM Feb 18 2008

If you want to find intelligent life, don't look at this hunk of mud flying through space and inhabited by schizophrenic apes.

Maybe another galaxy is the place to be.

malloympm 02:40:07 PM Feb 17 2008

we are not smart, ottocartier
we destroy the biosphere and you call us smart!!!!!!

what haas the world come to!!!

good job scientists!!!!!

kalliji 02:15:13 PM Feb 17 2008

Can you back up that statement with proof? Didn't think so.
>>>>>

driverrats4 05:37:08 PM Feb 15 2008

God created the earth and the fulness thereof. He was and still is the Big Bang.

y24will 04:48:36 PM Feb 16 2008

As we are still looking for intelligent life in the sky, meaning a planet equal roughly like ours being able to sustain life, a twin if you prefer, I always wondered if we have discovered planets, beside ours, that are identical.
That would prove the theory of feasibility, like one in a trillion, or one in a trillion trillion ???
Just asking.

ottocartier 03:09:45 AM Feb 16 2008

This goes to prove once and for all; that Man is the greatest and most powerful creature on Earth. And perhaps in the known universe.

rwnamvet68 01:31:30 AM Feb 16 2008

I am obligated by a higher power to say this one more time.
It took 13 Billion light years for us to see this. All well and good. But why don’t they tell us about the stuff that is close by? Why don’t they reveal what is approaching our Solar System as you read this. A 3600 year celestial cycle that may change life on Earth as we know it. It was re-discovered 20 years ago and the NTK lid was clamped on it 18 years ago. Its secrecy is close to that of the Manhattan Project due to the negative social/economic impact and threat to political power. Bible people, go to Rev. 8:11. Historians reference the Egyptian Bronsbook 1589 BCE, for a start.
Find out what NASA is hiding and what your Government does NOT want you to know……….yet

http://www.returnofplanet-x.com
Believing it is not my concern, but getting the word out by any means………..IS
Draw your own conclusion.

driverrats4 05:37:08 PM Feb 15 2008

God created the earth and the fulness thereof. He was and still is the Big Bang.

skooli 10:35:33 PM Feb 14 2008

DONT REACH FOR THE STARS, CAUSE YOU'LL NEVER REACH IN YOUR LIFETIME!!!

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