A1689-zD1

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A1689-zD1 is the most distant and therefore oldest galaxy discovered as of February 2008.^[1][2]

Due to its distance, 12.8 billion light-years, and the according considerable redshift, ~7.6^[3], the galaxy's faint light reaches us at infrared wavelengths. It could only be observed with Hubble Space Telescope's Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer and the Spitzer Space Telescope's Infrared Array Camera exploiting the natural phenomenon of gravitational lensing: The galaxy cluster Abell 1689, which lies between Earth and A1689-zD1, at a distance of 2.2 billion light-years from us, functions as a natural "magnifying glass" for the light from the far more distant galaxy which lies directly behind it, at 700 million year after the Big Bang, as seen from Earth.^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Astronomers Eye Ultra-Young, Bright Galaxy in Early Universe. nasa.gov (February 12, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
2. ^ Astronomers Uncover One of the Youngest and Brightest Galaxies in the Early Universe. Space Telescope Science Institute Baltimore, Md. / nasa.gov (February 12, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
3. ^ heic0805: Hubble finds strong contender for galaxy distance record. ESA/Hubble (February 12, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-04-04.