A1689-zD1

A1689-zD1 was the most distant and therefore oldest known galaxy discovered as of February 2008.[1][2] In October 2010, the discovery of galaxy UDFy-38135539 at 13 billion light-years made A1689-zD1 the second most distant galaxy in the universe.

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 years after the Big Bang, as seen from Earth.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Astronomers Eye Ultra-Young, Bright Galaxy in Early Universe". nasa.gov. 2008-02-12. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/jpl/news/Spitzer20080212.html. Retrieved 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. 2008-02-12. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/young_bright.html. Retrieved 2008-02-25. 
  3. ^ "heic0805: Hubble finds strong contender for galaxy distance record". ESA/Hubble. 2008-02-12. http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/html/heic0805.html. Retrieved 2008-04-04.