With images like the eXtreme Deep Field, we’ve seen how the +Hubble Space Telescope is used to observe remarkable distances in our Universe, approaching moments after the Universe ceased to be opaque. Astronomers have done it again, detecting and measuring the distance to some of the earliest objects in our Universe!
Since light has a finite speed limit, we know that the further back we look, we are also looking further back in _time_ as well. In a joint effort between HST, The Spitzer Space Telescope and the +W. M. Keck Observatory in Mauna Kea, Hawai’i, astronomers have observed light from a galaxy that left over 13 billion years ago! Due to the fact that the Universe is expanding at an accelerated rate, researchers measure the “red-shifting” of light of distant objects in order to see how much the light has stretched as space-time itself is stretched. However the further back we go, the fainter the objects are and make this form of spectroscopy extremely difficult to utilize.
So how did astronomers measure this distant object? Find out in this week’s #HubbleHangout! Join your hosts +Tony Darnell, Dr.+Carol Christian and +Scott Lewis as they discuss the findings published in _Science_ with authors Dr. Pascal Oesch and Dr. Garth Illingworth.
As always, you’ll be able to ask questions and make comments using the Q&A App, post comments here in the event and on +YouTube, as well as engage in the discussion on Twitter using the hash tag #HubbleHangout
Read more on the press release: http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2015/22/
#Science #ScienceEveryday #Space #Hubble25 #Cosmology #Astronomy #Spitzer #Keck #STEM