UDFy-38135539
UDFy-38135539 (also known as HUDF.YD3) is a galaxy in the Fornax constellation. At present it is the farthest confirmed object ever seen. UDFy-38135539 is 13.1 billion light years from the Earth.[1][2]
Characteristics
The galaxy is in the constellation Fornax, and it is estimated that the galaxy contains a billion stars.[3]
Significance
The universe's first stars were massive, ionizing hydrogen in the surrounding environment.[3][4][5][6] This is called the ionization epoch.
UDFy-38135539 (HUDF.YD3) is probably the first galaxy seen in the reionization epoch.[7] Caltech astronomer Brant Robertson, commenting on the study, stated that the "galaxy happens to reside at a very special time in cosmic history when the properties of gas in the universe were changing rapidly, and therefore this galaxy and others like it may teach us a lot about the early history of the universe".[8] Michele Trenti, an astronomer who was not involved in the study but provided commentary published with the report, says that the discovery of the distant galaxy is
UDFy-38135539 Media
Location of UDFy-38135539 (HUDF.YD3)
References
- ↑ "BBC News - Galaxy is most distant object yet". bbc.co.uk. 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2011.
- ↑ "Hubble finds a new contender for galaxy distance record". Space Telescope (heic1103 - Science Release). 26 January 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-27.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Trenti, Michele (2010). "Astronomy: Galaxy sets distance mark". Nature. 467 (7318): 924–925. doi:10.1038/467924a. PMID 20962835. S2CID 43005537.
- ↑ "Oldest object in Universe found". Discovery News. Retrieved 2010-10-21.[dead link]
- ↑ J Amos - 20 October 2010 - BBC News Retrieved 2012-6-18
- ↑ MIT Haystack observatory - index Retrieved 2012-06-18
- ↑ "Dim galaxy is most distant object yet found". New Scientist. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Earliest galaxy helped clear Big Bang's fog. USAToday. 2010-10-20. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2010/10/earliest-galaxy-hubble/1.