Big Galaxy in Baby Universe
Ssc2005 19a1

Credit: NASA, ESA/JPL-Caltech/B. Mobasher (STScI/ESA)

Observation • September 27th, 2005 • ssc2005-19a1

ssc2005-19a1

NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes combined forces to uncover one of the most distant galaxies ever seen. The faraway galaxy, named HUDF-JD2 is not seen in Hubble's visible-light image, but was detected using Hubble's near infrared camera and multi-object spectrometer. It appears even brighter at the longer infrared wavelengths, as revealed by the Spitzer infrared camera.

At visible wavelengths, the light from the galaxy is absorbed by intervening hydrogen gas, and so the galaxy appears faint in the Hubble visible and near-infrared images. The surprise is how bright is appears to Spitzer in the infrared, suggesting a very massive and distant galaxy.

This image is a false-color composite of Hubble/ACS B-band data (blue), Hubble/NICMOS K-band data (red) and Spitzer 8 micron data (red).

About the Object

Name
HUDF-JD2UDF033238.74-274839.9
Type
Galaxy > Size > Giant
Distance
12,800,000,000 Light Years
Redshift
6.5

Color Mapping

Band Wavelength Telescope
Optical 440 nm Hubble ACS
Infrared 2.2 µm Hubble NICMOS
Infrared 8.0 µm Spitzer IRAC

Astrometrics

Position ()
RA =3h 32m 28.7s
Dec = -26° 11' 20.1"
Field of View
0.0 x 0.0 arcminutes
Orientation
North is up