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About the Image

Date
2005-09-27
ID
ssc2005-19a4
Type
Observation
Credit
NASA, ESA/JPL-Caltech/B. Mobasher (STScI/ESA)

About the Object

Name
HUDF-JD2 • UDF033238.74-274839.9
Type
Galaxy > Size > Giant
Distance
12,800,000,000 Light Years
Redshift
6.5

Color Mapping

Band Wavelength Telescope
Infrared 3.6 µm Spitzer IRAC
Infrared 4.5 µm Spitzer IRAC
Infrared 8.0 µm Spitzer IRAC
Spitzer

About the Color Mapping Table

Astrometrics

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

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Spitzer Infrared View of a "Baby" Galaxy in the Distant Universe

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 a companion Hubble visible-light image, but was detected in a separate image using Hubble's near infrared camera and multi-object spectrometer, and appears even brighter at the longer infrared wavelengths, as revealed in this image obtained 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 Spitzer infrared data, with 3.6 micron light represented by blue, 4.5 micron light as green and 8.0 micron light as red.